Holly MatkinNew York, NY – An anti-police racial justice advocate running for New York governor is constantly flanked by a New York police security detail and resides in a heavily-guarded community on a military base.
Jumaane Williams, who served on the New York City Council prior to being elected as the city’s public advocate in 2019, has been assigned a police security detail due to his position, FOX News reported.
He lives in Brooklyn on the Fort Hamilton U.S. Army Garrison, which is guarded by security checkpoints and armed personnel.
Anyone wanting to enter the base must pass a background check, FOX News reported.
Williams, a self-proclaimed Democratic Socialist, has been a key proponent of the “defund the police” movement in New York City and has also called for cuts to the U.S. Department of Defense’s funding, according to the New York Post.
He blasted city leaders last year for only slashing the New York Police Department’s (NYPD) budget by $1 billion, arguing the cuts should have been much more severe, FOX News reported.
Taxpayers dole out $183,801 per year for Williams’ salary, according to the New York Post.
His spokesperson said Williams only lives on the military base because it was an affordable option.
“When he needed a new home for his family in 2019, they chose a publicly-available unit in Fort Hamilton not because of its position on a base but because it offered the best unit for his family’s price point and criteria,” the spokesperson told the New York Post in a statement.
Local doctors and judges are also among the small number of civilians who live in the high-security community.
The base has its own playgrounds, bowling area, swimming pool, restaurants, gas station, and an affordable barber shop, among other perks, the New York Post reported.
Williams lives with his stepdaughter and his lobbyist wife, and pays around $4,000 per month for the residence.
“These aren’t apartments listed on Zillow. It’s essentially a gated community with stunning waterfront views protected by tanks and soldiers with M16s,” a source with knowledge of the situation told the New York Post.
Williams’ spokesperson said the neighborhood where Williams is living has nothing to do with his work as a public official or gubernatorial hopeful.
“The suggestion that his work to protect, promote, and reimagine public safety would change with his address is belied by his record on these issues for over a decade – that work continues as he advocates for policies to advance community in neighborhoods citywide,” the spokesperson told the New York Post.
Bay Ridge resident Joseph Rolland, who lives just outside the heavily-guarded base, said it is “very hypocritical” for Williams to have a police security detail and to live where he does while also calling for defunding of law enforcement and the military.
“I feel like it’s a situation where regular citizens are not allowed to defend ourselves, and people like our elected officials can,” Rolland told the New York Post. “What I would say to the elected officials is if you’re so anti-police and so anti-gun, then you should give up all of those privileges that allow you to protect yourself.”
A law enforcement source told the paper that not many people have the luxury of free police and military protection.
“You’re saying defund the police but yet you’ve got the police with you every day taking you all over on the taxpayer’s dime? And then you live on a military base and you’re protected by the military?” the source railed. “That’s a joke. What a hypocrite.”
Williams’ office did not respond to a request for comment on the matter, according to FOX News.
