Democrat New York City mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani sidestepped a reporter’s question on Wednesday about whether he regrets calling for defunding the police following the tragic death of a New York Police Department (NYPD) officer on Monday.
In 2020, Mamdani made several anti-police statements and repeatedly called for the NYPD to be defunded following the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. After the fatal shooting of NYPD Officer Didarul Islam, a reporter asked Mamdani during a press conference if he would take back some of his harsh statements about police.
“As you’ve grown and reflected, I feel in fairness to you, you’ve been good about talking about growing and reflecting on conversations. Do you wish you haven’t said some of those things a few years back?” a reporter asked.
“My statements in 2020 were ones made amidst a frustration that many New Yorkers held at the murder of George Floyd and the inability to deliver of what [New York City Mayor] Eric Adams, of all people, described as … the right for all of us to be able to enjoy safety and justice. That we need not choose between the two,” Mamdani said.
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The shooting in New York City killed 36-year-old Islam, a husband and father, inside the lobby of a skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan. Three other people fell victim after 27-year-old gunman Shane Tamura opened fire inside the building.
In a June 28, 2020, post on X, Mamdani called to defund the NYPD because it was supposedly “racist, anti-queer and a major threat to public safety.” He also said in a Dec. 7, 2020, X post that the NYPD is “wicked” and “corrupt” and it therefore must be defunded and dismantled.
Mamdani has since distanced himself from these posts, stating during the press conference that he is “not running to defund the police.” He assured that his staunch anti-NYPD posts were “clearly out of step” with his current views on policing.
“I am not defunding the police; I am not running to defund the police,” Mamdani told reporters. “Over the course of this race, I’ve been very clear about my view of public safety and the critical role that the police have in creating that public safety.”
Following the death of Islam, Mamdani honored the slain officer’s legacy “that his family could be proud of.”
“When he joined the police department, his mother asked him why he would pursue such a dangerous job. He told her it was to leave behind a legacy that his family could be proud of,” Mamdani wrote in a Tuesday X post. “He has done that, and more. I pray for him, his family, and honor the legacy of service and sacrifice he leaves behind.”
The mayoral candidate has called to cut the NYPD’s Strategic Response Group (SRG), which responded to Monday’s deadly shooting, arguing that it has responded to protests too often rather than emergency situations.
Democrat New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said on LI News Radio on Wednesday that she could never support any candidate’s calls to defund the police.
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