Holly MatkinNew York, NY – Black Lives Matter of Greater New York co-founder Hawk Newsome has said that there would be fire, riots, and bloodshed if Mayor-elect Eric Adams delivers on his campaign promise to reinstate the city’s anti-crime police units.
Hawk Newsome made his threats on Wednesday after a contentious meeting with Adams at Brooklyn Borough Hall, the New York Post reported.
Adams, a former New York police captain, won the election while promising to focus on police reform.
The mayor-elect says he will reinstate a new-and-improved version of the undercover anti-crime unit that was abolished last year in compliance with rioters’ demands.
Hawk Newsome said mayhem will erupt in the city’s street if that happens.
“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,” the BLM leader declared, according to the New York Daily News.
“There will be riots, there will be fire and there will be bloodshed because we believe in defending our people,” he continued.
“There is no way that he is going to let some Gestapo come in here and harm our people. We pray for peace but black opportunities prepare for the worst,” Hawk Newsome added, according to KSWB.
He further accused Adams of “ignoring” the “history” of the unit, the New York Post reported.
“He’s tone deaf,” he added. “I am not threatening anyone. I am just saying that it’s a natural response to aggressive oppression, people will react…We will be at his front door, we will be at Gracie Mansion, we will be in the streets, if he allows these police to abuse us.”
Hawk Newsome’s sister and fellow BLM co-founder Chivona Newsome promised the group will “shut the city down” if Adams brings back the anti-crime unit, the New York Daily News reported.
“We will shut down City Hall, and we will give him hell and make it a nightmare,” Chivona Newsome vowed.
Hawk Newsome claimed Adams only used Black Lives Matter to get into office, the New York Daily News reported.
“There is a reason why he called us last year seeking to explain why he would be the best candidate for Black New York. He knows that black people and brown people respect our work. He stood with Black Lives Matter when it was politically convenient, but now it serves him better to be pro-cop,” he said.
Adams told KSWB after the meeting that he has no intention of backing down with regards to reintroducing a “reinvented” version of the specialized police unit.
“They know who I am. I ran on a very clear message: my city will not be unsafe,” the mayor-elect said. “I said it before and that is what I am going to continue to say. That is what I promised to New Yorkers, and that is what I’m going to deliver on.”
Adams said it will take everyone coming together to help find solutions to these issues.
“If black lives truly matter, then we must address violence in our communities while we address bias in policing. Yelling and not listening gets us nowhere,” he told the New York Post.
The mayor-elect also took issue with Chivona Newsome during the meeting after she blamed politicians for failing to enact the changes BLM has demanded.
“You need to be corrected,” Adams said, cutting her off. “You need to be corrected based on what you’re saying. Don’t tell me, ‘I need to do this’…say, ‘We need to do this.’”
He said he has put his “body on the line” for his community.
“So, I’m not here for folks to come and say, ‘I’m going to hold you accountable.’ No. It’s ‘us,” Adams said, according to the New York Post.
