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New York Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani continues to attempt a political pivot after his resurfaced “defund the police” posts have drawn scrutiny in the wake of a mass shooting in Manhattan, as some of his critics say it’s too little too late.
“I’ve said time and time again that every decision I make with regards to the NYPD will work backwards from an outcome of public safety. And that public safety, we know it is one that also comes from listening to officers themselves. Two-hundred officers are leaving the department every month. A leading cause of their departure is forced overtime,” Mamdani said on Monday.
“And the fact that every year we ask them to take on additional responsibilities, we are making it more and more difficult for them to respond to the very responsibilities that drew them to the job in the first place,” he added.
TIMELINE: EVOLUTION OF MAMDANI’S DEFUNDING POLICE RHETORIC TO THIS WEEK’S ‘DAMAGE CONTROL’
Mamdani has called for the creation of a Department of Community Safety to deal with certain “mental health programs and crisis response,” according to his campaign website.
“And I think about the seven major categories of crime listed in CompStat. That is not the full extent of what we ask officers to do. The NYPD receives 200,000 mental health calls every year. How can they be expected to respond to that and to this? New Yorkers rightfully have concerns around public safety, and I want to empower police officers to respond to serious crime and hire mental health professionals to respond to mental health calls,” he added.
Fox News Digital reported that Mamdani has made several public calls to “defund the police” dating back to June 2020, and then changed his tune slightly during his campaign.
‘DAMAGE CONTROL’: MAMDANI’S ‘BLATANT FLIP-FLOP’ ON DEFUNDING POLICE RIPPED AS ‘POLITICAL THEATRE’
“We don’t need an investigation to know that the NYPD is racist, anti‑queer & a major threat to public safety,” he posted on June 28, 2020. “What we need is to #DefundTheNYPD. But your compromise uses budget tricks to keep as many cops as possible on the beat. NO to fake cuts – defund the police.”
“We need a socialist city council to defund the police,” he wrote on July 3, 2020.
“Queer liberation means defund the police,” Mamdani posted on Nov 6, 2020.
Even he said in a post to “dismantle” the police in December 2020.
“City Council tried to make the NYPD reduce its overtime budget by half,” Mamdani posted on X. “They simply refused. There is no negotiating with an institution this wicked & corrupt. Defund it. Dismantle it. End the cycle of violence.”
During a mayoral debate in the primary, he changed his tone from years past.
MAMDANI DODGES RESPONSIBILITY FOR THREATS TO NYPD IN FIRST PRESSER SINCE DEADLY MANHATTAN SHOOTING
“I will not defund the police. I will work with the police because I believe the police have a critical role to play in public service, public safety,” he said.
His comments faced renewed scrutiny following the 345 Park Avenue mass shooting, where five died, including the gunman and a police officer, Didarul Islam.
“I’m heartbroken to learn of the horrific shooting in Midtown and I am holding the victims, their families, and the NYPD officer in critical condition in my thoughts. Grateful for all of our first responders on the ground,” Mamdani posted to X after the shooting, and he returned from his trip to Uganda early in the wake of the tragedy.
However, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who is a former police officer, said that his recent rhetoric and actions, including attending Islam’s funeral, are a political tactic.
“We lost officers before he was running for mayor. Where was he? Did he feel those officers deserve to be lifted up as he lifted up now Officer Islam during the election? We need to ask, where was he?” Adams told reporters at City Hall on Monday, according to the New York Post.
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