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Republican NYC Council member accuses de Blasio of 'caving in to the woke progressive mob'
Published July 16, 2020
Joe Borelli, one of three Republican members of New York City's 51-member City Council, told "The Daily Briefing” Thursday that Mayor Bill de Blasio "is, right now, just caving in to this sort of woke progressive mob ..."
In addition to growing anti-police sentiment and an alarming surge in gun violence across the city, Borelli cited “an encampment outside of City Hall blocking the streets, blocking subway entrances, harassing people who walk by,” but de Blasio is “just letting this go.”
“Ever since the protests have really took off, he totally just collapsed any bit of rational thought, and he’s given in to every demand,” Borelli continued.
Borelli, who represents part of Staten Island joined host Dana Perino after NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea slammed city lawmakers in an appearance on CNN, claiming that six police reform bills signed by de Blasio Wednesday are “handcuffing the police.”
Shea said on Thursday that the would negatively impact public safety, with the city already seeing a huge increase in shootings recent weeks. The NYPD reform bills include a ban on chokeholds, The New York Post reported.
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“There has been a chipping away of tools that the NYPD uses,” Shea said of the bills, which of which bans chokeholds.
“What they have taken away from the police has gone too far,” the commissioner added.
Borelli agreed, telling Perino, “The thing that has to change first and foremost is this quote-unquote chokehold ban, which restricts the compression of a perpetrator’s diaphragm.
“This places a misdemeanor charge on a police officer for simply doing what they have to do to put handcuffs on someone,” he continued. “I challenge Mayor de Blasio or anyone on the city council to put handcuffs on me without violating this same law. It's impossible, and it changes the balance of criminality [against] a police officer who is struggling for his or her life.”
A spokesperson for de Blasio did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment. The New York Post reported Wednesday that de Blasio acknowledged concerns that the new laws will make it harder for officers to do their jobs.
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According to NYPD statistics, shooting incidents have increased by 600 percent year-over-year, while the number of shooting victims has increased 483 percent.
Fox News’ Courtney Crawford contributed to this report.
https://www.foxnews.com/media/joe-borelli-nyc-council-member-de-blasio