De Blasio Blames NYC Crime Spike On Coronavirus Instead Of Bail Reform

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New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio speaks at the 2019 American Israel Public Affairs Committee policy conference in March. (Photo: Jose Luis Magana/AP)

NEW YORK (VINnews) — New York City saw a troubling spike in violent crime this July 4th weekend. From Saturday through Sunday night, nearly 50 people were shot, 8 of them fatally. These troubling numbers also follow a record violent month of June in NYC.

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While it has been obvious to most New Yorkers that de Blasio’s controversial bail reform has been destroying any hope for relative calm in this city, the Mayor himself seems to want to blame the recent criminal activity on something entirely different: Coronavirus.

De Blasio addressed the issue during his daily City Hall press briefing, saying that over July 4th weekend, “a lot of people out there, very peacefully celebrated our nation’s birthday … but we also saw too much violence this weekend.”

In explaining away the cause for the uptick in crime, de Blasio said the shootings were “directly related to all this dislocation that we’ve seen over the last four months,” due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“People have been pent up for months and months,” said de Blasio.

But at the very same press priefing, NYPD leadership brought up the more likely source of the problem.

NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan said that the coronavirus is only part of the problem. Among the other problems, Monahan noted, are de Blasio’s bail reform, animosity from the citizens towards police officers after the George Floyd incident, as well as the new bill that outlawed chokeholds by police officers in any scenario and also restricts other forms of contact.

“It’s a combination of things — bail reform, COVID releases from prison, court shutdown, which has Rikers [Island] at half of where they were,” Monahan said at the briefing.

Regarding the chokehold bill, Monahan said “We mentioned this insane diaphragm law the City Council passed. It has our cops hesitant to enforce some of these quality-of-life issues. They are afraid if they’re making an arrest that if their knee goes on the back of someone that they are fighting their life for — that they could be prosecuted, that’s a problem.”

“It makes our cops take that step back,” Monahan continued.

Monahan explained that it isn’t the banning of chokeholds specifically that’s the issue, but rather any form of compressing the diaphragm, such as a scenario where the offcier’s knee would end up on a detainee’s back.

“Anyone who’s ever arrested anybody who’s fought and struggled knows that there’s a good chance that the knee may end up on someone’s back in the course of a struggle,” Monahan said. “To criminalize that has the police officer concerned about whether or not he may be arrested for his knee going on the back.”

De Blasio, for his part, did not take ownership of his shortcomings, but rather he finished off suggesting other solutions to curb the violence such as using the efforts of “the clergy” and community groups like block associations.


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13 Comments
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Harry
Harry
3 years ago

If one of her fellow people of color were to rape or rob or shoot De Blasio’s little piece of color, let’s see how he would react.

5TRESIDENT
5TRESIDENT
3 years ago

DeBlasio knows he’s term limited and doesn’t have to worry about running for mayor again. Across the state and Nationally he’s a joke. He knows these are the last few months of his political career so he’s saying whatever he wants without fear.

ferfel
ferfel
3 years ago

he’s getting more SENILE and WEIRD by the day – nothing between his ears.

Had Enough
Had Enough
3 years ago

This man is SICK !!
The solution to curb these murders and violence is to cut One Billion from the NYPD – let the clergy do the work (??).
And the City Council is also full of idiots – that they go along with him.
Our democracy and country are going down the tubes faster than a speeding bullet
Thank the Liberals, Democraps, and the media

ah yid
ah yid
3 years ago

Does the mayor realize what a racist he is. Virtually every single shooting and killing was in a black neighborhood by a black person. Why isn’t there an uptick in violence in the Jewish, Asian, Muslim, Italian neighborhoods. Only Blacks were cooped up? Is it only getting warmer in black communities? Mr. Mayor and Mr. Cuomo your insane policies are hurting the very people you are trying to protect. LIBERAL = LEV ARUL

Educated Archy
Educated Archy
3 years ago

“directly related to all this dislocation that we’ve seen over the last four months,” due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“People have been pent up for months and months,” said de Blasio.

So don’t pent us up so much. Extended lock downs have costs and are not attianble. You should have opened the parks earlier and not been so stubborn. Why is there no youth corp this year? Of course thats all why.

Yes and letting protestors run lose just make it carzier and contibute more.

People laughed when i said you can’t lock down societies and its has a real life loss consquences. Try it out for another 6 months

Disenfranchised voter
Disenfranchised voter
3 years ago

Jumaane Williams was correct. This Deblala duffus thinks that, because he’s married to a black woman he can say and do anything. He is a miserable failure. There were times that this City was doing pretty good. It has been all downhill, down the toilet for him ever since he decided to run for President. He had that winning slogan “Don the Con”. I can’t understand why he didn’t win in a landslide. He will be remembered as a terrible incompetent Mayor. No one will want his endorsement as the race for a new Mayor heats up next year.

elyeh
elyeh
3 years ago

If you “defund” police, and release criminals without bail, you will have more crime. Criminal on the street do what they know – commit crimes.

In Pirkei Avos, “Rebbe Chanina, s’gan kohanim, says: Be mispallel for the integrity of the government; for were it not for the fear of its authority, a man would swallow his neighbor alive.”

Democrats support Jew haters and are anti religious freedom they are also hypocrital liars
Democrats support Jew haters and are anti religious freedom they are also hypocrital liars
3 years ago

If BL really M than where are the protests over all the black people killed in just chicago over the weekend including 2 children. More black people were killed just last week in Chicago than unarmed black people killed by cops in the entire USA in the last couple years.

Democrats support criminals over law abiding citizens
Democrats support criminals over law abiding citizens
3 years ago

DeBozo the clown nuff said.