NYC mayor calls on residents to support police against 'defund the police' movement, crime wave

New York City mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday that the city’s police needed residents support more than ever as they struggle against violent crime.

Adams made the comments at a Jewish Heritage Month event he hosted at the mayor’s residents, Gracie Mansion, as part of a new public relations campaign to revitalize support for law enforcement in the face of “defund the police” proponents like New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

“Everyone silently tells us to support the police. We cannot do this with a whisper. This community knows how important law enforcement is,” Adams said, addressing members of the Jewish community in attendance.

The mayor said that recent events had demonstrated a need for pro-police messaging. He referred to the mass shooting at a Texas elementary school earlier that day, which was reportedly brought to an end by Border Patrol agents who stormed the classroom and killed the shooter, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos.

The NYPD had arrested the man who randomly shot and killed someone in his subway car earlier Tuesday.

“It is time for us to go on a major public relations campaign and tell the entire city and country we support our police. We want our police to do their job. Every billboard would talk about that. Every newspaper should have ads inside them. Radio shows, you should talk about supporting the police. Your Twitter handle…” said Adams.

“We are too silent on those who are watering the tree of public safety with their blood for us, every day for us … as we sit in the shade of freedom. … They place themselves in harm’s way,” he added.

“If we can’t live safely in the city free from violence, then we are prisoners in the city that we love.”

Attendees applauded the mayor’s pro-police speech, which included leaders of NYC’s Jewish community.

“Too many times in history, people were silent when they should have shouted. This is the time for shouting for those willing to sacrifice and protect us,” Joseph Potasnik, executive vice president of the New York Board of Rabbis, told the New York Post.

He added that he had seen more New Yorkers thanking police officers for their service.

A former NYPD captain, Adams ran promising to improve safety in the city. He has criticized Black Lives Matter and “defund the police” activists for worsening crime for the city’s poor, like after one night in April when three people were killed and at least 13 others injured in shootings – all of whom were black.