Maybe they can pull off that stunt in Washington, D.C., where there’s no statehood or congressional representation, but President Trump shouldn’t even think about trying that takeover mess here, because this is New York, and we’re not having it.
Even New Yorkers who don’t like the NYPD or who senselessly want to defund the police department would draw the line at a federal government takeover.
“That act would unify New York in resistance,” said Hawk Newsome, chairman of Black Lives Matter’s Greater New York chapter.
Newsome says he can see it now: Blacks, whites, Christians, Jews, Muslims, Liberals, Conservatives, Socialists, Democrats and Republicans, holding hands in a mass circle around 1 Police Plaza daring Trump’s troops to step one foot cross that line,
Understand that Newsome, a frequent police department critic, has about as much love for the NYPD as Yankees fans have for Fenway Park.
But if Trump’s pen comes anywhere near an executive order that would put New York’s Finest in his control, Newsome says he would defend the police with his dying breath.
“I know I have this hate-hate relationship with the NYPD,” Newsome said. “But an attempted takeover of New York is like an act of war, and people are going to stand in unity and stand together. Not this city.”
Last week, federal agents fanned out across Washington, D.C. as part of what Trump called a clamp-down on crime in the nation’s capital — even though city officials say crime is already on its way down.
D.C’s status as a congressionally established federal district allows the president to take control, although he’s limited to only 30 days under statute unless he gets approval from Congress.
Despite those limitations, the delusional despot has set his sights on other major cities, including the one he used to call home.
“I’m going to look at New York in a little while,” Trump said at the White House Monday, after mobilizing National Guard troops.
He’s looking at the wrong city.
Even Mayor Adams, who has a softer spot for Trump than most New York City politicians, says Trump’s troops are not welcome here.
“We don’t need anyone to come in and take over our law enforcement apparatus,” Adams said. “We have the finest police department on the globe,
Adams, a retired NYPD captain, is, of course, a little biased.
But even if he wasn’t, he understands the damage that would be done under even one day of Trump rule.
“You look at Chicago, how bad it is. You look at Los Angeles, how bad it is,” Trump said. “We have other cities that are very bad. New York has a problem. And then you have, of course, Baltimore and Oakland. We don’t even mention that anymore — they’re so far gone.We’re not going to lose our cities over this, and this will go further.”
Trump is nothing if not transparent.
And consistent.
“I think it’s very notable that each and every one of the cities called out by the president has a Black mayor, and most of those cities are seeing historic lows in violent crime,” Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott told CNN. “The president could learn from us instead of throwing things at us.”
D.C.’s mayor, Muriel Bowser, is also Black.
Every time you say this president has reached a new low, he reaches a new low, .
Unleashing the National Guard in Los Angeles to embarrass that city’s Black mayor Karen Bass, wasn’t enough for him. He has to command troops to raise war against some enemy, and right now it’s the people in Democratic cities who didn’t want him or his immigration policies.
Newsome doesn’t think it’s even about politics anymore.
“It’s about good and evil. Certain things are just wrong,” Newsome said. “We disagree on a lot. We disagree on who’s going to be the best mayor. But one thing we won’t stand for is a dictatorship. This is a no dictator zone.”
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