New York BLM co-founder slams Mayor Adams for failing Black residents: 'City is a warzone'
'This city is a warzone and he can't stop it,' Newsome said of Adams
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Hawk Newsome, the co-founder of Black Lives Matter of Greater New York, slammed New York City Mayor Eric Adams during an interview on Fox News, arguing he’s been ineffective at protecting Black New Yorkers.
"Don't listen to what Eric Adams says, he gives great press statement. He's the master of the press conference. Some kid dies, he hugs their mother. He's holding up sneakers, he's crying. But what we elected him for, the city of New York, was to keep the city safe. This city is a warzone and he can't stop it," Newsome said on Fox News’ America’s Newsroom on Thursday.
Side by side image of New York City Mayor Eric Adams and co-founder of co-founder of Black Lives Matter of Greater New York Hawk Newsome. (Getty Images)
Newsome added during the interview that Adams is a "white man in blackface, and a very conservative-minded white man at that," and referred to him using a racial slur.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}MASSIVE INCREASE IN BLACK AMERICANS MURDERED WAS RESULT OF DEFUND POLICE MOVEMENT: EXPERTS
"So with all [Adams’] power, he turns to BLM and says, ‘What are you going to do?’ Well, I'll tell you what we're going to do. We're going to organize people in our communities to go out and preach a message of love and unification in the streets. We're going to take control of our cities, because the government has failed us for decades. Even when crime is low, we're still dying. And we have to fix this problem ourselves because we believe that poverty is the mother of crime," he continued.
Newsome also addressed FBI data reported by Fox News Digital earlier this week detailing how Black murders skyrocketed in 2020, amid the Black Lives Matter and defund the police protests and riots spread across the nation. The data shows Black murders increased by 32% in 2020 compared to 2019, and by 43% compared to 10-year average of Black murders.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}New York City Mayor Eric Adams speaks addresses the press about the scene where NYPD officers were shot while responding to a domestic violence call in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City, U.S., January 21, 2022. REUTERS/Dieu-Nalio Chery (Reuters)
FBI DATA SHOWS LARGE INCREASE IN MURDERS IN 2020 NATIONWIDE
"Did the defund movement actually hurt the African American community in America?" host Bill Hemmer asked Newsome.
"No," Newsome said. He then went on to define the defund movement as, "taking money from the police and putting it in community centers, job opportunities, and after school programs, which this mayor has cut, right? So it wasn't like ‘just get rid of this money for the police.’ It was invest in the community."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}ACTIVISTS LOOK THE OTHER WAY AS BLACK AMERICANS PAY BLOODY PRICE FOR BLM, 'WOKE AGENDA': EXPERTS
At least 7,484 Black Americans were murdered in 2019, according to FBI data Fox News Digital reported on Tuesday. That number shot up to at least 9,941 murders in 2020, meaning there was an increase of 2,457 Black Americans murdered over the previous year.
Among White murders, FBI data show there were 7,043 White people murdered in 2020, meaning 2,898 more Black people were killed compared to Whites.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Experts such as the Manhattan Institute’s Heather Mac Donald argued the BLM and defund the police movements contributed to the murder spike.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES - 2021/04/20: A protester waves a Black Lives Matter flag during the demonstration. Hours after the verdict of the Derek Chauvin trial, protesters meet outside of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti's home to protest his proposed funding of the Los Angeles Police Department. (Photo by Stanton Sharpe/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) (Getty Images)
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Fabien Levy, Adams' press secretary, told Fox News Digital Thursday that the mayor "has made clear that he believes that Black Lives Matter."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"But, as he said, he is hopeful that more New Yorkers will stand up and show their outrage when innocent Black and Brown individuals, many of whom are children, are victims to gun violence. He will remain focused on ending gun violence across the city and will not respond to personal attacks that simply seek to divide us," Levy continued.