New York City Mayor-elect Eric Adams has broken silence over recent controversial statements made by Black Lives Matter Greater New York co-founder Hawk Newsome about how there would be "fire" and "bloodshed" should Adams make his policing plans a reality.
"I think that this is an excellent moment for the local and state and federal Democratic Party to state: We could have justice without violence", Adams said, questioning why his fellow Democrats failed to speak out about the troubling remarks made by Newsome. "National, state and city electeds should stand up and say, 'we will never allow anyone to make those comments', that there will be blood in our streets because you know where that blood ends up? In the streets of our community".
Adams' response comes shortly after Newsome stated on Thursday that the mayor-elect's plans to reinstate the NYPD plainclothes anti-crime units would trigger more violent protests similar to those that engulfed the United States in 2020 following the death of black man George Floyd in police custody.
"If he thinks that they're going to go back to the old ways of policing, then we are going to take to the streets again. There will be riots, there will be fire and there will be bloodshed because we believe in defending our people".
Newsome, who later explained that he made his comments because he was triggered by Adams' plans to return the plainclothes police officers. The mayor-elect's policing ambitions made the activist recall the deaths of Breonna Taylor, Eric Garner, and George Floyd, all of whom were killed by police officers.
Recently, the BLM activist took to Twitter to take another verbal shot at Adams, who is a centrist Democrat with a tough stance on law and order.
"NYC Mayoral Elect Eric Adams wants to make this about me & him. This is about Black people having opportunities, removing the barriers imposed on them by systemic racism, affordable housing, thriving schools, and neighborhoods that are safe from violence and the police", he wrote.
He proceeded to add that he was not "here for the circus", but rather "for The People".
Adams has been a rare Democrat speaking out about Newsome's statements, but he was not the only one who voiced concerns about the "riot" comments in general. Police officers from the NYPD blasted Newsome for pledging to bring back violence to the streets of the Big Apple.
One of them told the New York Post that the BLM Greater New York co-founder “should be denounced by every politician because he is threatening to harm the citizens of New York”. The outlet also cited a veteran NYPD cop who called the controversy triggered by Newsome “a lose-lose situation for Black Lives Matter”.