From Fox News: Freshly back from a vacation to Uganda, Democratic New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani dodged reporters’ questions Wednesday morning about a mass shooting that killed four, including 36-year-old NYPD officer Didarul Islam.
Mamdani, a socialist who has previously called for defunding the police and for disbanding the special unit that responds to mass shootings, met with the officer’s family Wednesday morning but avoided questions from reporters after the meeting. The candidate spent an hour with Islam’s family, according to the New York Post.
He was photographed hugging one of the deceased officer’s family members as he left.
Mamdani’s anti-police rhetoric has landed him in hot water after the shooting.
He recently vowed to eliminate the NYPD’s Strategic Response Group, responsible for riots, civil disorder, and shootings.
In December, he also he claimed the SRG existed to “harass + arrest striking @teamsters.”
“As Mayor, I will disband the SRG, which has cost taxpayers millions in lawsuit settlements + brutalized countless New Yorkers exercising their first amendment rights,” he pledged.
During a presser following the shooting, Mamdami talked about the victims of the attack, and, predictably, he attacked gun rights.
Mamdami said, “I want to thank retired Lieutenant Shamsul Huck who co-founded the Bangladeshi American Police Association of which officer Islam was a member.
“I landed back in New York City this morning and went directly to the home of Officer Islam, where I met with members of his family, young and old, who are heartbroken over the loss of their son, of their brother, their father, their husband, their friend. heartbroken in a way that words cannot fully describe.
“And as we spent close to an hour together, there were moments that stayed with me. Moments like when Officer Islam’s sisters asked me, ‘Who will we call Bhaiya now?’”
“Bhaiya” is a Hindi word meaning “brother,” used for a literal brother, extended family members, or to show respect and affection for someone older.
Mamdami Continued, “I know that in the way in which that home is shattered, the way in which it is quieter and emptier than ever before, there are other homes across this city experiencing that same kind of loss.
“Other homes where families are asking them themselves questions for which there are no answers. And while we grieve the loss and the murder of four New Yorkers, we know that there are others recuperating now in hospital and that millions of New Yorkers are praying for them all.
“And while I will not say the name of the gunman, I want to talk about those that we lost.
“We’ve heard from Alan’s family of a man who was the father of two children. We’ve read of how his smile lit up every room. How it was as warm as it was infectious. And of a man who did a job that is so often overlooked. And yet it is that first greeting that so many feel when they come home. And so it was him that was also in that first line of fire. Just a few days ago.
“We’ve heard of Officer Islam, a police officer who leaves behind two young children, a pregnant wife due to give birth just in the next month, two aging parents, one of whom is struggling in his own health.
“And we know also of Wesley Leatner, who was a New Yorker that shone brightly across this city, who served on the boards of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the U.J JA Federation, the Hesshel School, who served on the board of the Yale University Library Council, who is remembered by friends and by colleagues for the incredible achievements she leaves behind, and for the two children and husband that mourn her today, as do all New Yorkers.
“And also of Julia Hyman, a 27year-old New Yorker who grew up here, who attended Riverdale High School, captained three different teams in her senior year, attended Cornell University for which she just went to a 5-year reunion, and was remembered by colleagues at her workplace today as a superstar, a life cut short by a senseless act of violence.”
Mamdami then launched into a typical tirade about how gun restrictions are the answer to gun violence.
“And as New Yorkers across the five burrows and Americans across the country mourn this mass shooting, we are reminded that no matter how strong our gun laws are in this state, we are only as safe as the weakest laws in this nation.
“And so in this moment, the onus is on all of us to follow the words of Alan’s brother and to put forward a vision of stronger gun laws. And I echo the call from Governor Hokll for a nationwide ban on assault rifles. as it is horrifying to each and every one of us in this room and beyond that a man with such documented mental health struggles was able to purchase a weapon, leave alone a weapon of such devastating capability. And we know that the consequences of national in action, though we feel them this week in Midtown, we know that they join a list of so many other places across this country.
“Be they Uvalde, be they El Paso, be they Sandy Hook, be they Charleston. As mayor, I will lead calls to ensure that we pass the legislation necessary beyond New York such that every New Yorker can rest assured that we need not prepare for the next iteration of this horrific mass shooting. And we know that mass shootings are sadly all too familiar for New Yorkers themselves as we experience them whether on our street corners or even on public
transit.
“And though we have made strides towards making this city one that is free of that gun violence, we know that there is so much work to be done. And in this moment of mourning and of grief, I want to thank law enforcement for their response to the horrific shooting on Monday and their work in keeping New Yorkers safe. I ask that in this moment we come together as New Yorkers and we remember the four of our neighbors that were killed. We honor their memories and we live up to the way in which they led their lives.
“Thank you.”
A member of the press asked, “I’m wondering, you wanted to honor the people who responded yesterday. I wonder if your views about especially in this criticizing the police that you have.”
Mamdami answered, “Over the course of this race, I’ve been very clear about my view of public safety and the critical role that police have in creating that public safety that officers are tasked with delivering while we ask them to respond to nearly every failure of the social safety net.
“And the vision that we’ve put forward in this campaign, despite what others may say, is not to defund the police. It is in fact to allow those officers to respond to these serious crimes that many of them signed up to address and to do so by ensuring that we ask them to focus on those crimes and we ask mental health professionals to respond to calls of mental health crisis.
“And as it pertains to the strategic response group, when it was first formed, there was an intention for its use to be more akin to the manner in which it was deployed earlier this week. What we have found, however, is the city has come to rely upon the strategic response group as its primary means of response to acts of protests across the city when New Yorkers exercise their first amendment rights.
“And that decision in asking the members of that unit to respond to protests as opposed to what was the stated reason is a decision that has led to the violation of a number of New Yorker civil rights. And it’s a decision that has been the basis of my critique of the use of the group towards that end.
“And what I would also say in this moment is that it is beyond me that politicians are looking to use these days to score such cynical political points on the very day that I held the father of Officer Islam in my arms as he could not utter a single word and as I felt him sobbing at the memory of his 36-year-old son who will never come home.
“To visit that family, to meet those children, to understand what this man meant to so many, and to hear from his brother-in-law that today was the day that they had timed their vacation together so that they could visit a water park in New Jersey, and that the brother-in-law’s children knew they were supposed to go, Officer Islam’s children knew they were supposed to go, and yet they were at home mourning a father who will never return. This is a time to honor those memories.”
Another journalist asked, “I was actually just with former governor and he was asked specifically, you know, about statement I believe you already made a day or two ago about political points, which you just said should not be scored in a moment like this. And he said effectively if he doesn’t like it perhaps he should retract some of the words he has said previously talking about police being racist or anti-LGBTQ or that they should be defunded or dismantled. So this is a little bit of what Marcia asked but as you as you’ve grown and reflected and I feel in fairness to you’ve been good about talking about growing and reflecting and always having conversations.
“Do you wish you hadn’t said some of those things a few years back?”
“My statements in 2020 were ones made amidst a frustration that many New Yorkers held at the murder of George Floyd and the inability to deliver on what Eric Adams of all people described as the right for all of us to be able to enjoy safety and justice that we need not choose between the two,” Mamdami answered.
“I know that Governor Cuomo is far more comfortable in the past, whether it be his own or whether it be in attacking me for tweets made before I was even an assembly member. What I have said time and time again is the campaign that I am leading, the campaign that I am asking New Yorkers to consider is one that has been clear on its public safety approach. It’s one that speaks about a desire to work with police officers. And what has been quite frustrating to me has been the inability of so many, including the former governor, to reckon with the crisis we face in this moment where 200 officers are leaving the department every month.
“A leading cause of this is forced overtime. And all they have to offer, they being these politicians of the past, are the same ideas they put forward years ago. What I am speaking of is a vision that will not only address public safety but also keep officers in this very police department.”
Journalist continued to pelt him with similar questions.
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