Mayor Eric Adams urged on Monday those protesting ICE raids in New York City to do so peacefully, saying that the NYPD was at the ready to keep things orderly in the Big Apple.
During a late afternoon press conference on June 9, Hizzoner said that the city and NYPD would always ensure peaceful protests but have zero tolerance for any escalation into violent outbursts such as those seen during the weekend in Los Angeles. Though most of the protests have been peaceful in California, President Trump nonetheless ordered the National Guard into Los Angeles in a purported effort to keep the peace.
“NYC will always be a place to peacefully protest, but we will not allow violence and lawlessness,” Adams said alongside NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch during the press conference streamed from City Hall. “The escalation of protests in Los Angeles over the last couple of days is unacceptable, and will not be tolerated if attempted in our city.”
Adams and Tisch were flanked by the NYPD Chief of Department John Chell and First Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Kaz Daughtry, both of whom spent an afternoon with President Donald Trump at his Bedminster, NJ, golf course this weekend, as Daughtry posted on his LinkedIn account.
Tisch explained that as a matter of city law, city officials do not engage in civil immigration enforcement.
“But let me be crystal clear: We have no tolerance for violence,” she said. “We have no tolerance for property damage. We have no tolerance for people blocking entrances to buildings, or blocking driveways, or blocking cars from moving.”
She also emphasized that the department will not tolerate attacks on police officers: “Any attacks against law enforcement will be met with a swift and decisive response from the NYPD.”
Tisch, who said she has been in touch with federal officials regarding the protests, explained that the NYPD will be standing by if protests and demonstrations escalate in NYC.
“The full resources of the NYPD are available and prepared to respond,” the top cop said. “We will maintain public order, and we will do it consistently with the law.”
Tisch did not go into detail about what kinds of tactics the NYPD would use, said the department “knows how to police protests that maintain public safety and uphold the law.”
Mayor Adams encouraged all protesters to heed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s words from his 1963 book titled “Why We Can’t Wait”: “Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals.”
“In the pursuit of justice, we must choose the sword that heals,” Adams said.
