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EXCLUSIVE: NYPD Union President Calls de Blasio ‘An Idiot’ For Asking Officers To ‘Violate People’s Rights’

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3 years ago

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In an exclusive interview with this reporter Wednesday, President of the Sergeants Benevolent Association, an NYPD union, Ed Mullins called New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio “an idiot” for instructing his officers to arrest people gathering in large groups after hundreds of Jewish people attended a funeral for a well-respected rabbi on Tuesday night.

“You can’t tell law enforcement to go out and violate people’s rights,” he said.

Mullins, who has served in the NYPD for 38 years, said that the Jewish community regularly has large gatherings, and “what occurred last night is not new. This happens all the time. What occurred last night was different because the community was given out masks. They were trying to keep things organized.”

De Blasio’s reaction, however, was anything but sensitive to people of faith mourning the loss of a religious leader, Mullins told me. “Whatever treated him to go out and take a stance, he did it at a funeral for people of faith and I question what he’s doing by doing that,” he said.

Mullins echoed the many critics arguing that the Mayor’s comments singled out the Jews and detailed several areas where there’s been “no enforcement” order from de Blasio including when mass crowds gathered on Tuesday to watch the U.S. Navy Blue Angel’s fly over the city as a show of solidarity with essential workers.

“So why did you target people of faith at a funeral? Ironically, there’s a video of a woman. She had her husband’s body, I believe it was, in an apartment for several days. So, what do you expect people to do? The city’s not responding. We have people who are sick, go to hospitals, they have no family members, they’re dying alone, some of them are doctors and nurses, and then they’re being buried with really no funerals,” Mullins explained.

He added, “So you have a community that’s doing what they always do. They’re in their own community. They didn’t have a problem with it. I wasn’t at the funeral. I wasn’t infected myself with anything, but I just looked at photos and they’re wearing masks. So, this is what your biggest complaint is that you felt it’s necessary to get out of bed and go yell at people from a funeral? You took away Easter Sunday church from us. I’m Catholic, I didn’t get to go to mass on Easter Sunday. How much more of this can you expect people to take?”

Mullins condemned some of de Blasio’s early actions that he said signaled that the coronavirus spread in the city “was no big deal” including when he instructed people to visit “Chinatown, and go for walks, go out to dinner.”

“The truth of the matter is the guy’s an idiot, he has no idea what he’s doing,” Mullins said. “The governor is smacking him up and down the state of New York. and he’s embarrassed and he thinks he’s taken a hardcore approach.”

In his press conference on Wednesday, the Mayor defended his comments saying he was trying to protect police and those gathering, however, Mullins didn’t find his argument convincing.

“We’ve had cops killed under him, cops injured under him, cops abused under him,” Mullins said. “So don’t tell me you’re trying to keep police safe and it puts us in harm’s way.”

The city has seen a record surge in antisemitic hate crimes. In 2019, antisemitic hate crimes increased by 26 percent and in an effort to fix the issue, the NYPD deployed to Brooklyn neighborhoods with reported incidents.

“Let’s eliminate the virus, let’s just eliminate that. Look at the hate crimes that have occurred in the last two years in the Jewish community. I mean it’s been nonstop. And, the truth is, it’s always been an issue, but it’s been nonstop in the last two years. And you’re the Mayor of this city, you’re keeping out all these things, this isn’t gonna happen on your watch. Well, it’s happening. So what do you expect people to do? They’re not following your direction,” Mullins said.

“It’s just amazing that he even went out and took a position on this. I mean just him taking a position is significant, but at a funeral for people of faith? And it’s no secret, the Jewish community is a faithful community, so to sit there and be like ‘this is it.’ You’re making provisions for everything else, maybe you should make provisions of look, if this is gonna happen, this is how we should do it. And at least accommodate people to that degree.”

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Elections

Jim Jordan demands IRS explain unexpected visit to Matt Taibbi’s home during testimony

Published

2 hours ago

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March 28, 2023

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jordan jim

Matt Taibbi, a journalist who has been the top of the headlines for exposing Twitter censorship at the direction of the Department of Justice, had a surprise visit from an IRS agent at his home.

This visit occurred the same day that he was testifying before the Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government about what he had discovered inside of the Twitter files. The IRS did not immediately respond to Fox News digital when asked for comment. Now, Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, demands to know why.

SaraACarter.com contacted the IRS media relations office Tuesday afternoon and was told by an IRS representative to send an email to their media relations office for comment. As of Tuesday evening the IRS has yet to respond to the immediate inquiry.

Jordan sent a letter Tuesday to the IRS questioning the visit by the agent to Taibbi’s home in New Jersey. Jordan could not immediately respond for comment.

In his letter, however, Jordan demanded that Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen turn over documents and provide all information requested by the committee.

“As the Committee continues to examine how to best protect Americans’ fundamental freedoms and to assist the Committee in its oversight, we ask that you please provide the following documents and information:

  1. All documents and communications referring or relating to the IRS’s field visit to the residence of Matthew Taibbi on March 9, 2023;
  2. All documents and communications between or among the IRS, Treasury Department, and any other Executive Branch entity referring or relating to Matthew Taibbi; and
  3. All documents and communications sent or received by Revenue Officer [James Nelson] referring or relating to Matthew Taibbi.” 

Jordan noted in the letter that his committee is committed to examining “the mounting evidence that the federal government pressured, coerced, and even directed technology companies to take certain actions related to digital content.”

The Republican lawmakers were astonished that “an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agent visited, unannounced and unprompted, the home of one of the hearing witnesses, Matthew Taibbi, an independent journalist who has reported extensively on government abuse. In light of the hostile reaction to Mr. Taibbi’s reporting among left-wing activists, and the IRS’s history as a tool of government abuse, the IRS’s action could be interpreted as an attempt to intimidate a witness before Congress. We expect your full cooperation with our inquiry.”

The letter went on to say that “Mr. Taibbi joined fellow journalist Michael Shellenberger in testifying before the Select Subcommittee during its March 9 hearing. During the hearing, Mr. Taibbi described the serious government abuse on which he had been reporting and on which he testified to the Select Subcommittee. As he explained:

The original promise of the internet was that it might democratize the exchange of information globally. . . . What we found is in the [Twitter] files was a sweeping effort to reverse that promise and use machine learning and other tools to turn the internet into an instrument of censorship and social control. Unfortunately, our own government appears to be playing a lead role.”

Jordan’s inquiry into the IRS is not the first time the Congress has questioned the actions of this private government contracted agency.

In 2013, the IRS admitted that it had been targeting conservative groups that were seeking tax-exempt status. Lois Lerner, who had then headed the IRS, stated that her agency had been scrutinizing groups that had “tea party” or “patriots” in their names. These were almost all conservative non-profit organizations.

Those inquiries by the IRS mainly took place in 2009 and 2010, and as reported in NPR “hundreds of groups affiliated with the party had sought tax-exempt status as 501(c)(4) “social welfare” organizations. IRS demands for documents left many of them in bureaucratic limbo for a year or more.”

Taibbi’s investigation into Twitter’s actions prior to Elon Musk’s takeover revealed major concerns expressed by former President Donald J. Trump and his supporters that the social media giant was censoring supporters.

The investigations by Taibbi proved that shadow-banning was occurring and it was targeting primarily Republican activists, journalists, and politicians using the platform. The evidence proved the the FBI had advised Twitter to not allow stories or posts that revealed the Hunter Biden laptop scandal that had first been reported by the New York Post. Those accurate stories were censored by Twitter and later it was revealed that the laptop did belong to Hunter Biden.

Senate Republicans are also deeply concerned about the actions taken Taibbi.  Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, tweeted Tuesday that the IRS visit to Taibbi “this absolutely stinks to high heaven” because the “IRS has a troubling history of targeting the political enemies of Democrats.”

Two Democrat lawmakers  at the hearing were attempting to get Taibbi to reveal his sources, which is unconstitutional. Taibbi refused to answer Representatives Sylvia Garcia, D-Texas, and Stacey Plaskett, D-Virgin Islands questions.

It was during his testimony that Taibbi’s house was being raided by the IRS.

You can follow Alexander Carter on Twitter @AlexCarterDC

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