Former NYPD lieutenant on officers being attacked: NYC is in a 'state of chaos' due to 'poor leadership'
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Retired NYPD Lieutenant Darrin Porcher reacted to the violence against police officers in New York City, telling “Fox & Friends” on Thursday that the city is in a “state of chaos” due to Mayor Bill de Blasio’s “inability to push forward a sense of leadership.”
Porcher made the comments the morning after an NYPD officer was randomly attacked and stabbed in the neck while patrolling in Brooklyn, which resulted in a struggle that caused two additional officers to suffer gunshot wounds.
Police said the officers involved had been assigned to an anti-looting post to prevent people from breaking into stores. They were rushed to a nearby hospital and are expected to survive.
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“It appears to be a completely cowardly, despicable, unprovoked attack on a defenseless police officer and thank God we are not planning a funeral right now,” New York City Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said.
New York City has been trying to get a handle on the widespread unrest after the police-involved death of George Floyd on May 25. The shooting occurred nearly four hours after the city's 8 p.m. curfew.
Wednesday’s incident comes after a shocking video posted on social media the day before showed a New York City police officer being struck by a vehicle in what appeared to be a deliberate hit-and-run. Shea said the officer was still in intensive care, "but recovering slowly."
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NYC POLICE COMMISSIONER ON NIGHT OF VIOLENT RIOTS, LOOTING: ‘IT TURNED DARK AND IT TURNED UGLY’
“This is a result of poor leadership,” Porcher said, adding that it's very dangerous to be a police officer in New York City at the moment.
“The tone hasn’t been set appropriately. ... We’ve closed the gate after the horses escaped,” he continued, adding that as a result there have been riots in New York City over the last several days.
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He went on to note that “City Hall is dictating police policy and it’s not coming from One Police Plaza [the headquarters of the New York City Police Department].”
“We really need to ratchet down the rioters’ behavior and this is a testament to the man’s [de Blasio] inability to push forward a sense of leadership,” Porcher said.
“This is just a bad precedent moving forward,” he continued. “We had a mayor that had a daughter that was arrested recently as a protester so that clearly lets you know the precedent that he’s setting forth.”
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On Monday, de Blasio insisted that his 25-year-old daughter was “peacefully protesting” and “not doing anything that would provoke a negative response” when she was arrested late Saturday night during demonstrations against the death of Floyd.
Fox News’ David Aaro, Greg Norman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.