Bernie Kerik blasts NYC politicians as violence soars amid calls defund police
Bernie Kerik, former NYPD commissioner, addresses the surge in violence in New York City amid a push to defund police
Former NYPD Commissioner Bernie Kerik pointed out that police commanders in New York City, whom he called “two-star chiefs in the NYPD,” are calling out local political leaders, asking where are they and why aren’t they doing their jobs.
“This is the same thing going on all over the country in cities led by Democrats,” Kerik told “Fox & Friends” on Monday.
He went on to say that local leaders “are villainizing the police, they’re victimizing the thugs and this is what happens when you do that.”
Kerik made the comments following a violent holiday weekend in New York City, where at least eight people were killed and more than 44 people were shot, according to multiple reports.
At least four NYPD officers were involved in attacks that left two officers with minor injuries, according to NBC New York. One of the officers was sitting in his vehicle in the Bronx when a bullet pierced the windshield, sending glass shards into his face. In a separate incident, a suspect threw a lit firework through an unmarked police vehicle window, a police spokesperson said.
“I predicted this would be one of the worst days probably in the last few decades, the worst weekend,” Kerik said.
He went on to say that “there's something else going on in New York City.”
Kerik pointed to tweets from NYPD commanding officers over the weekend.
On Sunday, Assistant Chief Stephen Hughes, commanding officer of the NYPD Patrol Borough Manhattan South, called out Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance.
Hughes tweeted, “Manhattan DA Cy Vance where are you? No show at any shooting scene!!! Our community is being attacked, there have been 24 people shot in the city in the past 24 hours....Where Are You!!!”
In a statement sent to Fox News, Danny Frost, director of communications for the Manhattan District Attorney's Office said, "Our office's policy and practice, going back several decades, is to have our Assistant DAs attend crime scenes, regularly brief the DA, and execute advice and instructions from the DA and other supervisors at the scene and throughout the course of an investigation and prosecution.”
“It is unclear what the Manhattan District Attorney could substantively contribute at a crime scene,” he continued. “We do not hold premature mini-press conferences which would potentially violate ethical rules and interfere with evidence collection."
On Monday, Kerik also pointed to a tweet from Assistant Chief Kathleen O'Reilly, commanding officer of NYPD Patrol Borough Manhattan North, which includes Washington Heights.
O'Reilly wrote, “Disgraceful the amount of people shot in Manhattan North in the past 24 hours! Where are the elected officials and violence interupter!! The community is suffering!!”
Kerik pointed out that Chicago also experienced a violent holiday weekend, with 79 people shot and 15 people killed, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
He also noted that Atlanta and Cleveland experienced a violent holiday weekend as well.
“Every one of these cities are led by Democrats,” Kerik said, adding that those politicians are the ones “that are calling for the defunding of the police.”
“Anybody that lived back in the 80s and 90s up until [former NYC Mayor Rudy] Giuliani, and I and [former NYPD Police Commissioner Bill] Bratton … came into office and cleaned up New York, anybody that was there realizes, you need more police, more enforcement, aggressive policing, or you're going to have this,” Kerik said, referencing the increase in violence.
“And who suffers? People in the black community, that's where these numbers are spiking, they're rising, that's where people are getting killed,” he continued. “You want to defund the police, you're going to see 10 times more of this over the next several months.”
Gun violence surged across New York City after the NYPD disbanded its anti-crime unit of plainclothes officers last month, The New York Post reported, adding that police statistics show that in the last two weeks of June there had been three times as many shootings as the same time period of last year.
The Post noted that there 116 shooting have been reported in New York City between June 15 and July 2, a 205 percent increase from the same time last year.
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“I couldn't work for [NYC Mayor Bill] de Blasio,” Kerik said on Monday.
Fox News’ David Aaro contributed to this report.
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