Speaking at his daily press conference on Thursday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio slammed the Sergeants Benevolent Association, a police union with which he has had a running feud, snapping that they “foment hatred.”
De Blasio was asked, “The March across the Brooklyn Bridge yesterday ended up also being joined by the Sergeants Benevolent Association and Blue Lives Matter. Can you comment about that, noting your history, particularly with the SBA?”
“Look, I don’t know everything about the march. My understanding is that was started by community people who are concerned to make sure their community is safe, and I respect that greatly,” de Blasio answered, continuing, “And that’s what I talked about in the opening today, we have to keep communities safe, get community and police work in together and address the need to constantly reform the NYPD. We can do all of that at once. But the SBA has only practiced division; they foment hatred; they don’t try and help us move forward. I have been fighting with them for years and they have been fighting with our police leadership for years. They attacked Jimmy O’Neill viciously. They’ve attacked Dermot Shea. They don’t try to create anything good. They only try and tear down, which is why I have no respect for the leadership of the SBA.”
In February, the SBA said it was declaring “war” on de Blasio after a shooter tried to assassinate cops in two incidents in less than 12 hours. The union tweeted, “Mayor [de Blasio], the members of the NYPD are declaring war on you! We do not respect you, DO NOT visit us in hospitals. You sold the NYPD to the vile creatures, the 1% who hate cops but vote for you. NYPD cops have been assassinated because of you. This isn’t over. Game on!”
Mayor DeBlasio, the members of the NYPD are declaring war on you! We do not respect you, DO NOT visit us in hospitals. You sold the NYPD to the vile creatures, the 1% who hate cops but vote for you. NYPD cops have been assassinated because of you. This isn’t over, Game on! https://t.co/XyruPraM9T
— SBA (@SBANYPD_Archive) February 9, 2020
SBA president Ed Mullins responded to de Blasio’s remarks on Thursday, asserting, “This is the first time since he’s been in office that he’s told the truth. The City knows he hates cops and accountability; thank him for finally being honest,” the New York Post reported.
In July 2017, hundreds of NYPD officers turned their backs on de Blasio during the funeral for assassinated officer and mother of three Miosotis Familia.
“Scores of officers who assembled outside the World Changers Church in The Bronx for assassinated police officer Miosotis Familia on Tuesday protested the mayor by showing the building their backs as speakers broadcast Hizzoner’s eulogy from inside. The officers chatted with one another or swiped through their phones during the mayoral snub,” the New York Post reported. One day after Familia was executed, de Blasio delivered a speech outside the G-20 Summit in Germany. Mullins blasted, “Mr. Mayor, you didn’t have to travel to Germany for a protest — all you had to do is speak in front of the men and women of the NYPD,” as The Daily Wire reported.