Former NYPD commissioner blames Mayor de Blasio for violent attacks on officers
Howard Safir, former NYPD commissioner, tells Sandra Smith on ‘America’s Newsroom’ the clash between protesters and police law enforcement is ‘outrageous and not peaceful.’
Former NYPD Commissioner Howard Safir on Thursday blamed Mayor Bill de Blasio for the protesters who attacked police officers.
“I got together with all of the community leaders to tell them where they could protest, how we would protect them peacefully, and there were no riots, there was no violence, but this mayor is just the opposite,” Safir told “America’s Newsroom.”
“He says they can do whatever they want and that is all he is interested in: just prosecuting police officers,” Safir said.
EX-NYPD LIEUTENANT RIPS DE BLASIO AS 'EMPTY SUIT MAYOR' AS VIOLENT CRIME SURGES
A protester assaulted a group of New York Police Department (NYPD) cops, including the highest-ranking uniformed member of the department, on Wednesday during a demonstration on the Brooklyn Bridge, according to police and footage of the attack.
The NYPD announced in a tweet around 12:30 p.m. that at least three officers were hurt by someone swinging a long object at the officers while they were placing someone under arrest on the opposite side of one of the bridge’s fences.
A police department spokesperson said the chief of department, Terence Monahan, is the other white-shirt member of the department seen in the video with the group at the time of the attack and he suffered a non-life-threatening hand injury.
The video shows someone from the group along the bridge approaching the edge of the fence, leaning over and whacking the officers huddled against the barrier. Three officers suffered serious injuries, the tweet states.
After the first melee, another chaotic brawl occurred between more protesters and police near where the first one happened.
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Safir said that proposals to restrict officers are going to “turn police officers into blue flower pots.”
“Police officers who are not going to be protected and backed up by the mayor and the police commissioner are going to do what they are doing now,” Safir said.
“They're going to retire at a 400 percent greater rate than before. The class that was supposed to go in 1,200 officers will mean there would be fewer police officers on the street. The disbandment of the anti-crime unit basically sends a signal to thugs and criminals that you can take your guns and you can use them on the street and even if you do get arrested, you’re going to get out because of this bail reform act.”
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