In wake of Brooklyn subway shooting, Mayor Eric Adams calls on social media companies to better monitor hate speech
NEW YORK -- On Sunday, Mayor Eric Adams and NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell spoke about ways to prevent violence like what happened on the subway in Brooklyn last week from happening again.
The suspect in last week's attack, Frank James, posted hundreds of video rants that included racist and violent language. Adams called on social media companies to do more to identify and remove this type of speech on their platforms.
"I think social media must step up there as a corporate responsibility. When we are watching hate brew online, we could identify using artificial intelligence and other methods to identify those who are talking about violence," Adams said.
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When it comes to the uptick in subway violence, Sewell said there has been increase in security measures since January, adding more changes are underway.
"We've done over 280,000 additional inspections by uniform personnel in the subway system," Sewell said. "Last week, we graduated more recruits from the Police Academy and we're surging more officers into the subway system. We recognize that people need to see a visible presence of police in the subway and we're endeavoring to make sure that that happens."
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The suspect faces a federal terrorism charge for the attack last Tuesday. Ten people were shot, and more than a dozen others were hurt.
A motive is still not clear.
