Rivals attack Maya Wiley for refusing to say if she’d strip cops of their guns

More On:

NYC Mayoral Election 2021

Pro-accelerated learning parent group co-endorses Andrew Yang

NYC mayoral candidates tackle surging crime, quality-of-life issues in debate

NYC mayoral debate: Eric Adams only Democrat with quality of life concerns about legalized pot

Yang on rapport with Gov. Cuomo: ‘I worked with his brother at CNN’

Rival candidates attacked Maya Wiley for refusing to say whether she’d take firearms away from NYPD officers at Thursday’s Democratic mayoral primary debate — calling her response “out of touch” and “nonsensical.”

“We don’t need a mayor that is talking about, they’re going to take guns from police officers when they have an over-proliferation of illegal guns on our street,” Brooklyn Borough President and retired NYPD captain Eric Adams said at a campaign event in Dumbo on Friday.

“I’m not jeopardizing the safety of the citizens and I’m not jeopardizing the safety of those men and women who wear that bulletproof vest to protect us,” Adams said.

“Clearly all the polls state that New Yorkers are saying public safety is our number one issue,” Adams said.

“When New Yorkers are saying that and our chief executives are saying just the opposite, that says to me our chief executives are not in touch with New Yorkers,” he added.

Shootings are up 68% compared to a year ago and grand larcenies have surged nearly 40% since the same period in 2020.

Another mayoral contender, former Citigroup executive Ray McGuire, also seized on Wiley’s remarks.

“@MayaWiley wants to take guns away from police but is fine letting NYPD taser people who are already handcuffed. We can’t return to Giuliani-era policing tactics nor nonsensical approaches rooted in politics. My plan offers a departure from the status quo,” McGuire tweeted Friday.

Wiley was pressed on the issue by WCBS-TV/Ch. 2’s Marcia Kramer, who asked the five candidates at Thursday’s debate, “Attorney General Letitia James is proposing legislation to limit cops from firing their weapons, use of force as a last resort.

“Some might ask, why not go all the way and take away the guns altogether like they do in 19 other countries where the bulk of the police force is unarmed?”

Wiley twice tried to dodge the question by pivoting to talking points about public safety, but she finally answered after Kramer asked more directly, “Will you take the guns away from the NYPD?”

Wiley said, “I am not prepared to make that decision in a debate.”

“I am going to have a civilian commissioner and a civilian commission that is going to hold the police accountable and ensure we’re safe from crime but also from police violence,” Wiley added.

The four other candidates on the debate stage answered directly that they would not disarm the police.

Her campaign issued a statement late Thursday calling the question “ridiculous,” saying of course the candidate wouldn’t strip cops of their guns.

Wiley herself tried to walk back her answer Friday.

“My platform on public safety is clear. It’s public. It’s on our website. It’s never been a discussion in this campaign. And of course we’re not taking guns away from police officers,” Wiley told The Post at a campaign stop in Queens.

But Adams wasn’t ready to give Wiley, a civil rights lawyer and former counsel to Mayor Bill de Blasio, a pass.

“If an attorney, because she is an attorney, states that she didn’t understand the question or that it was a misleading question? I understood it. It was simply — ‘Are you going to take guns from cops?’ That’s a yes or no,” Adams said.

Share this article:

Source: Read Full Article

Previous post Jessica Biel Reacts to Fan Who Says She's Not Believable in Some Roles
Next post Fears Russian cruise missile sub is stalking Cornish coast during G7 summit