President Donald Trump is warning New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) of government intervention following another deadly weekend of gun violence.
On Sunday evening, Trump retweeted a brief report about the shootings that transpired around New York City over the weekend. With the retweet, he threatened “law and order” if De Blasio does not make strides to combat the growing problem.
Law and Order. If @NYCMayor can’t do it, we will! https://t.co/N88GX9Rkc9
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 17, 2020
According to The New York Post, the city’s latest weekend of gun violence left 76 people injured, including 14 that were killed. The bloody weekend is said to be “almost two-and-a-half times more shootings than the same week last year,” per law enforcement sources, the Post reports.
In the month of July, New York City saw an alarming gun violence spike of more than 177%. A total of 244 shootings were reported in July 2020 as opposed to only 88 shootings in July 2019.
At the time, Police Commissioner Dermot Shea released a statement expressing his concern about the sharp uptick in shootings.
“Amid the ongoing challenges of these times, the NYPD’s commitment to public safety never wavers,” Shea said in a statement, according to Fox5 NY. “Our men and women officers represent the best of the policing profession and work every day alongside those they serve in an ongoing joint mission to protect life, prevent crime and build safer neighborhoods for everyone across our great city.”
Trump’s latest remarks come one month after de Blasio and Shea also announced a joint initiative to combat gun violence. The department insisted it would be focusing on hotspot areas where gun violence has risen significantly.
The department previously said in a statement, “Our NYPD officers are following the best of the NYPD traditions, working with the community through Neighborhood Policing, responding in real-time to crime spikes by gathering timely intelligence, analyzing crime trends and disseminating preventative measures to stop New Yorkers from being victimized and ensure safety for all.”
