New York City Mayor Interview Turns Chaotic Over Death of Slain Officer: ‘Mayor Adams, That’s Not Going to Work on Me!’
Screenshot via The Breakfast Club YouTube
New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) walked into a lion’s den on his Friday appearance on The Breakfast Club.
Lawyer and commentator Olayemi Olurin clashed with Adams on his approach to crime in New York City, and things got especially fiery when the death of NYPD officer Jonathan Diller was brought up. Diller, 31 , was shot and killed in Queens during a traffic stop. The man accused of the crime is a repeat offender, and that fact has brought a new spotlight on New York crime. Former President Donald Trump attended Diller’s wake on Thursday.
Olurin argued that Adams is a “fearmonger” when it comes to crime, blasting his criticism of bail reform policies that ended cash bail for many crimes in the city. The lawyer argued it’s only only a small percentage of people released on bail who reoffend.
“In the same breath that you want to sensationalize, you want to highlight and point out how an officer was killed the other day which is a rare occurrence across the United States but let alone in New York, New York police officers have killed at least seven people this year, including a 19-year-old,” she said, referring to a man wielding scissors who was shot and killed by officers in Queens this week.
“First of all, I am not going to dismiss the loss of a life of an innocent person that wears a uniform!” Adams said.
“But you do of the 31 people that died at Rikers,” Olurin shot back.
After some crosstalk, the mayor said, “I don’t want to take you out of context and I don’t want people to all of a sudden criticize that you’re being dismissive of a young man being shot and killed.”
“Mayor Adams, that’s not gonna work on me,” Olurin said.
“Listen, I’m not trying to work anything on you. I lost a member of the police department. The same way I go to see a mother of an 11-month-old baby that was shot in the head when I first became mayor and I sat in the hospital with her, the same way I go visit these mothers that lose their children to gun violence, I go see them,” Adams said.
The two continued battling back and forth, with Adams asking Olurin if she visited the family of the slain officer, and Olurin asking the mayor if he visited the family of the slain 19-year-old.
“Many people on the far left disagree with me,” Adams said. “You know, many people on the far left, they say, ‘Eric, people should be allowed to sleep on the streets no matter what. They should be allowed to sleep on your stoop and inject themselves with drugs. They should be allowed to go into stores and steal whatever they want’… Like, people disagree with me all the time.”
“Earlier, you asked me specifically what you say to fearmonger about crime, so I would just like to say, exhibit A,” Olurin said.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) has also been a critic of bail reform laws in the state. On a recent episode of The View, the governor accused the previous administration of watering down bail laws when discussing the fact that four murder suspects being detained and then released.
“Last year I inherited from my predecessor and legislature before, they took the bail laws and watered them down and made it impossible for judges to look at the whole picture of the crime and the person, what they’re doing so I worked hard last year, I held the budget up one month late,” Hochul said.
Watch above via The Breakfast Club.
