Mayor Adams sounds alarm on NYPD BLM settlement as anti-Israel protests rage: ‘Very troubling’
NY Post
The NYPD’s controversial settlement agreement in the wake of the 2020 Black Lives Matter demonstrations is “troubling” and has made officers “hesitant” when responding to large, out-of-control marches, Mayor Eric Adams warned Tuesday — as the Big Apple has been rocked by fiery anti-Israel protests.
The department agreed to abandon “kettling” — the crowd-control tactic of herding and confining protesters to a small area before making arrests — as part of a settlement announced in September resolving several federal lawsuits claiming officers used excessive force during the George Floyd demonstrations.
But as the city is besieged by angry pro-Palestinian protests — where agitators have been spotted brandishing swastika signs — Adams has sounded the alarm.
“The Police Department … [has] to be extremely more hesitant in actions that they would have carried out in the past to keep the peace,” Hizzoner warned during a Tuesday press conference.
“I did not agree with the concept of those changes,” he continued. “I pushed back hard … I thought it put us on a very troubling direction.”
When asked why he agreed to the settlement if he didn’t like the terms, the mayor said city officials thought the deal might worsen if they didn’t agree.
