Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani isn’t exactly the biggest fan of incumbent Bill de Blasio. So it comes as no surprise that he had a few things to get off of his chest after videos surfaced in which New York City police officers were doused with water by some bold Brooklynites.
But before we delve into Giuliani’s response, here’s what has the Blue Lives Matter brigade up in arms:
Do you feel that righteous rage coursing through your veins? Oh, sorry. I wasn’t talking to you. I was talking to Giuliani, who presumably balled up his fists and punched the air after watching that bucket go upside Officer Drenched’s head.
From Newsweek:
“That would never happen in a million years while I was mayor of New York City,” Giuliani, who was the city’s Republican mayor from 1994 to 2001, told Fox News host Laura Ingraham on her show Monday night.
SPOILER WARNING: He was just getting started.
“Actually, it wouldn’t happen if we didn’t have a progressive, retrogressive, completely lazy mayor in New York City who is absolutely destroying the quality of life in this city. He’s a disgrace, and actually, even Democrats don’t support him and are embarrassed of him.”
Unseasoned Twitter had plenty to say on the matter as well.
Now under no circumstances do I ever recommend dousing anyone wearing a gun and a badge with water, but I can’t help but notice the level of restraint exhibited by the officers in question. The same restraint that’s mysteriously absent far too often.
That being said, New York is getting crushed by a heatwave. Perhaps these upstanding citizens were merely doing their part to keep the officers cool in that oppressive ass heat?
“That poor police officer, his morale has been destroyed. [...] That uniform should be respected,” Giuliani continued, according to Newsweek. “When I see that uniform disrespected, it just shouldn’t happen in America. That’s anti-American. [...] Too many people have died, too many people have died protecting us wearing that uniform.”
Edward D. Mullins, president of the NYPD’s Sergeants Benevolent Association, shit all over de Blasio too.
“The perpetrators of these crimes are emboldened by the Mayor, who has shown nothing but disdain and contempt for the police since January 2014, when he was sworn into his first term,” he said in a statement released on Twitter.
For his part, de Blasio has publicly condemned what he’s deemed an “interference.”
“Completely unacceptable,” he tweeted. “A video from the 28 Precinct shows people interfering in an arrest by throwing water and objects at officers. The NYPD kept New Yorkers safe through the heatwave and last night’s outages. We won’t tolerate this kind of disrespect. NYPD is investigating.”
No word yet on how the incident will be addressed, but de Blasio’s detractors aren’t holding their breath.
“Our anti-cop lawmakers have gotten their wish: the NYPD is frozen,” Patrick Lynch, president of the NYC Police Benevolent Association, told the Washington Post. “It’s not the fault of these police officers. It’s the end result of the torrent of bad policies and anti-police rhetoric that has been steaming out of City Hall and Albany for years now. We are approaching the point of no return.”
Sounds like everybody needs to cool off. We’ll keep you posted as this story develops.