Brosnan: Mayor de Blasio has empowered the criminal
Retired NYPD detective Pat Brosnan reacts to rising gun violence in New York City.
Retired NYPD detective Pat Brosnan slammed New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's policies, telling “America’s Newsroom” on Tuesday that “he has empowered the criminal.”
Brosnan explained that all the “elements” in New York City created “the perfect criminal storm and the numbers are there and the proof is in the pudding.”
The NYPD has reported a staggering increase in shootings and violent crimes in recent weeks. On Saturday, the New York Post reported 15 shootings in 15 hours, just one week after the city saw a bloody July Fourth Weekend with 44 shootings and at least eight killed.
“The bottom line is we have Mayor de Blasio who is frequently wrong, but never in doubt,” Brosnan said on Tuesday.
He went on to say that de Blasio “is titanically unaware of a few facts,” including what he called “one of the main facts,” which is that “gun violence is up” and “people are shooting … very simply because they can.”
“And the reason they can is because [de Blasio] has empowered the criminal and he has desecrated the NYPD,” he continued. “That intersection of those disbarred elements has created an absolute avalanche of shootings because no one is stopping them [the criminals.]”
Brosnan also pointed to New York’s bail reform law.
Under previous New York law, prosecutors would determine whether to make a bail recommendation or agree to have the defendant released on their own recognizance. The case judge would then make a determination. Defense attorneys would typically make arguments that bail would be inappropriate, or should be set at a low amount, which judges would take into consideration.
Under the new law, courts are now prohibited from setting any monetary bail or keeping defendants in custody before trial in almost every type of misdemeanor case, and for a long list of felonies as well.
Brosnan noted that other elements include the fact that “jails are empty because of COVID and guess what, even the prosecutors are disinterested, have no interest in prosecuting these cases.”
“They are shooting each other because they can,” he stressed. “This is the worst I’ve seen [New York City] and I was there in the rock and roll 80s and 90s for the opening day of crack and I am here to report that this is significantly worse.”
According to statistics from the NYPD, New York City reported 28 incidents between Friday and Sunday. The NYPD reports a year-over-year increase of 600 percent in shooting incidents and a 483 percent increase in shooting victims.
A 1-year-old was shot and killed and three other people were injured late Sunday night at a family cookout in a Brooklyn park, according to authorities.
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Reacting to the death of the 1-year-old over the weekend, de Blasio said on Monday, “This is not anything we can allow in our city and it’s heartbreaking."
"It’s heartbreaking for so many reasons and it begins with the fact that there is just so many guns out there and that is a New York tragedy and a national tragedy,” he continued.
The incident comes amid growing calls to defund or dismantle police departments across the country as well as a push to reform police tactics, following the May 25 death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis.
Earlier this month, New York City lawmakers voted on budget changes that shifted $1 billion from the NYPD to programs that assist in youth and community development.
Brosnan called New York leaders “delusional.”
“The reality is the bad guys never left. … and guns are almost infinite,” he said. “A gun from 1920 with minimum care and maintenance will still discharge a round with similar accuracy 100 years later.”
“The guns were always here, but Mayor [Mike] Bloomberg, Mayor [Rudy] Giuliani, through their police commissioners and aggressive police reform, kept everything in check, but these guys were biding their time, they were waiting and the time now is at hand.”
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Brosnan went on to say that the “confluence of all these disparate factors from the indefensible and reprehensible shooting and killing of George Floyd, bail reform, a desecrated police department” lead to “the perfect criminal storm.”
Fox News’ Courtney Crawford, Ronn Blitzer and Greg Norman contributed to this report.
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