NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Mayor Eric Adams apologized Friday for an inappropriate comment he made in 2019 about white police officers.
A furor erupted over the sudden posting on social media of a racially charged comment Adams made during a December 2019 appearance at the Harlem Business Alliance.
In the video, Adams says, "Every day in the police department I kicked those crackers' ass, man. I was unbelievable in the police department."
The man who posted the video, Thomas Lopez-Pierre, of the Black Lives Matter Real Estate Forum, told CBS2 political reporter Marcia Kramer that he purposely picked the clip he posted, which was in the middle of a half-hour appearance by the mayor.
"Why did you pick that specific point to want to start your clip?" Kramer asked.
"Because we live in a social media world and I knew it would be attention-grabbing," Lopez-Pierre said.
Lopez-Pierre also said he didn't release video of the appearance at the time because he thought it would hurt Adams' chances of being elected mayor.
He moved now, he said, because he thinks Adams has been spending too much time talking about hiring more cops and not about improving the economic health of minority communities.
"All I've been hearing is cops this, cops that. You know, listen, Black people have been getting killed. There have been more Black people killed this year than police officers. Police offcers decided to put on a uniform. They decided to take the risk," Lopez-Pierre said.
Lopez-Pierre, whose brother was killed by an off-duty cop during a carjacking, is no stranger to controversy. Running for City Council in 2017, he tried to use $100,000 in taxpayer money from public campaign matching funds to spread antisemitic hate attacks against his opponent, Councilman Mark Levine.
Late Friday, Adams apologized for his comments in the video.
"Inappropriate comments should not have been used. Someone asked me a question using that comment, and playing on that word, I responded in that comment, but clearly it's a comment that should not be used, and I apologize not only to those who heard it, but to New Yorkers because they should expect more from me and that was inappropriate," he said.
The police unions are standing four square with Adams. Both the Police Benevolent Association and detectives' union say actions speak louder than words, and Adams' support for cops being shot and killed says it all.
In a statement, PBA President Pat Lynch said, "We have spent far too many hours together in hospital emergency rooms these past few weeks, and we've worked together for decades before that. A few seconds of video will not define our relationship."
Editor's note: This story was first published Feb. 4.
Mayor Eric Adams Apologizes For Inappropriate Comment About White Police Officers
/ CBS New York
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Mayor Eric Adams apologized Friday for an inappropriate comment he made in 2019 about white police officers.
A furor erupted over the sudden posting on social media of a racially charged comment Adams made during a December 2019 appearance at the Harlem Business Alliance.
In the video, Adams says, "Every day in the police department I kicked those crackers' ass, man. I was unbelievable in the police department."
The man who posted the video, Thomas Lopez-Pierre, of the Black Lives Matter Real Estate Forum, told CBS2 political reporter Marcia Kramer that he purposely picked the clip he posted, which was in the middle of a half-hour appearance by the mayor.
"Why did you pick that specific point to want to start your clip?" Kramer asked.
"Because we live in a social media world and I knew it would be attention-grabbing," Lopez-Pierre said.
Lopez-Pierre also said he didn't release video of the appearance at the time because he thought it would hurt Adams' chances of being elected mayor.
He moved now, he said, because he thinks Adams has been spending too much time talking about hiring more cops and not about improving the economic health of minority communities.
"All I've been hearing is cops this, cops that. You know, listen, Black people have been getting killed. There have been more Black people killed this year than police officers. Police offcers decided to put on a uniform. They decided to take the risk," Lopez-Pierre said.
Lopez-Pierre, whose brother was killed by an off-duty cop during a carjacking, is no stranger to controversy. Running for City Council in 2017, he tried to use $100,000 in taxpayer money from public campaign matching funds to spread antisemitic hate attacks against his opponent, Councilman Mark Levine.
Late Friday, Adams apologized for his comments in the video.
"Inappropriate comments should not have been used. Someone asked me a question using that comment, and playing on that word, I responded in that comment, but clearly it's a comment that should not be used, and I apologize not only to those who heard it, but to New Yorkers because they should expect more from me and that was inappropriate," he said.
The police unions are standing four square with Adams. Both the Police Benevolent Association and detectives' union say actions speak louder than words, and Adams' support for cops being shot and killed says it all.
In a statement, PBA President Pat Lynch said, "We have spent far too many hours together in hospital emergency rooms these past few weeks, and we've worked together for decades before that. A few seconds of video will not define our relationship."
Editor's note: This story was first published Feb. 4.
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