Leaders of the New York City’s Black Lives Matter movement on Wednesday threatened “riots” and “bloodshed” in the streets if Mayor-elect Eric Adams reverses the abolition of the NYPD’s controversial anti-crime units.
“If he thinks that they’re going to go back to the old ways of policing, then we are going to take to the streets again. There will be riots, there will be fire and there will be bloodshed because we believe in defending our people,” said Hawk Newsome, co-founder of Black Lives Matter of Greater New York, after a heated meeting with Adams in Brooklyn Borough Hall.
On the campaign trail this year, Adams drew ire from progressives by vowing to reinstate the anti-crime units, which were disbanded at the height of 2020′s Black Lives Matter protests, the New York Daily News reports.
During a sitdown between the activists and the new mayor — which took place behind closed doors, but was livestreamed on Instagram by an attendee — Adams and the BLM leaders got into a shouting match as they argued over police policies.
The incoming mayor erupted when Hawk Newsome told him the organization would hold him responsible for any future misconduct by NYPD officers.
Adams replied: “You’re on the ground: Stop the violence in my community. I’m holding you accountable.
“Don’t hold me accountable,” Adams went on. “Being the mayor, being the borough president, being the state senator — I put my body on the line for my community, so I’m not here for folks to come and say, ‘Eric, we’re gonna hold you accountable.’
“No, it’s us. We need to do this together.”
