Black Lives Matter New York co-founder said Thursday that Mayor-elect Eric Adams longs for a us-regions where “Black folks get their heads cracked by law-enforcement” after he doubled down on his plan to bring back a version of the NYPD’s controversial undercover Anti-Crime Unit.
“Mayor-elect Adams is a bargain-basement Giuliani knockoff who longs for old New York where Black folks get their heads cracked by law enforcement and women sit quietly in the back of the room,” BLM NY co-founder Chivona Newsome said of the retired NYPD captain.
After the group had a contentious meeting with Adams on Wednesday, co-founder Hawk Newsome — Chivona Newsome’s brother — told reporters there would be “riots,” “fire” and “bloodshed” if the unit were reinstated. The threat didn’t stop Adams from pushing forward with his plan to create a plainclothes gun unit to tackle surging Big Apple violence.
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“The NYPD’s Anti-Crime Unit is unconstitutional and stomps all over the Fourth Amendment by allowing the police to ride around poor communities hunting Black men while dressed in plainclothes and unmarked vehicles,” Chivona Newsome said. “Mayor-elect Adams’ behavior and rhetoric are hazardous to Black people.”
Hawk Newsome from Black Lives Matter in Greater New York at a South Bronx Community Charter School giving a speech about activism. (Photo by Erik McGregor/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
The unit was disbanded by NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea in 2020 after the chokehold death of Eric Garner at the hands of ex-Officer Daniel Pantaleo.
President of the NYPD’s Detectives Endowment Association, Paul DiGiacomo, defended Adams’ revamped task force.
“We need to support Mayor-Elect Adams’ plan to restore public safety and get guns off our streets,” DiGiacomo told Fox News. “NYPD will do the job. Loud, threatening rhetoric will not.”
The Newsome siblings and their team had a heated exchange with Adams during the impromptu meeting at Brooklyn Borough Hall Wednesday that was live-streamed on Instagram.
Hawk Newsome described himself as “anti-cop” and said, “Everybody talks about good cops, we don’t believe in good cops.”
The activists pushed their stated agenda — including defunding the police, holding cops legally accountable for misconduct and improving the living conditions of the city’s most disadvantaged.
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While Adams agreed with many of the group’s points, he grew annoyed when Chivona Newsome said politicians “shuck, jive and use rap quotes,” but don’t actually do anything for the Black community.
“You need to be corrected,” he replied, talking over her. Adams grew annoyed again when he was queried on what he would do to hold the police accountable.
“Have you been living under a rock?” he asked testily. “Because I’ve been doing that.”
A protester waves a Black Lives Matter flag during the demonstration.
( (Photo by Stanton Sharpe/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images))
After the tense sit-down, Hawk Newsome told reporters that if Adams returns the city to the old ways of policing, the group would take to the streets.
“There will be riots, there will be fire, and there will be bloodshed,” he said, the New York Post reported.
In a statement, Adams stressed the importance of engagement — even with his opponents.
“As mayor, I will listen to all New Yorkers — especially those who I disagree with — because it is the only way we will move forward,” he said. “I marched with Black Lives Matter last year and with advocates for police reform for the last four decades — and I also proudly wore a uniform to protect New Yorkers.”
A spokesperson for the NYPD didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
