NYPD captain transferred after appearing to call Mamdani "expendable" and "an embarrassment" in video from protest
An NYPD captain has been transferred after video surfaced of him criticizing New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Democrats while on duty and in uniform, in apparent violation of department policy.
Capt. James Wilson was the second in command at the 94th Precinct in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
What Wilson apparently said and details on his transfer
Wilson was among the NYPD personnel who responded to an a protest of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement outside Wyckoff Medical Center on Saturday night. Some 200 protesters had gathered there to protest ICE's detention of Chidozie Wilson Okeke. The crowd remained at the hospital from about 10:30 p.m. Saturday night until 2:30 a.m. Sunday morning.
Video posted on social media appears to show Wilson making remarks, apparently calling Mamdani "temporary," "expendable," "an embarrassment" and "total nonsense." Wilson apparently goes on to call "all Democrats" a "waste of human race."
"Captain James Wilson was transferred on May 4 to the Communications Division within the 911 Call Center in the Bronx," the NYPD said. "His disciplinary process is ongoing. Department policy prohibits an officer, while on duty, from publicly expressing personal views regarding a political party."
The NYPD's Administrative Guide has a section on prohibited conduct. The following appears there as being prohibited for NYPD personnel:
While on duty, endorsing political candidates or publicly expressing personal views and opinions concerning the merits of
a. Any political party or candidate for public office;
b. Any public police matter or legislation pending before any government body; or
c. Any matter to be decided by a public election, except with the permission of the Police Commissioner
d. Voting on any matter that comes before the community board concerning Police Department activities in the district that the board serves.
The head of the Captains Endowment Association had no comment on the Wilson case.
Mamdani claims no involvement in captain's transfer
Mamdani is taking great pains to distance himself from the punishment handed down to Capt. Wilson, but it couldn't come at a worse time for a mayor trying to prove he supports the police, CBS News New York's Marcia Kramer reported.
Wilson, apparently exhibiting the hard feelings some officers have toward the mayor for earlier calls to defund the police and anti-police rhetoric when he was an assemblyman, insisted that Mamdani was "not my mayor."
Some officers are also upset with the mayor for comments he made about the Washington Square snowball fight on Feb. 23. Mamdani dismissed the event as just fun in the snow, even though two officers were injured and charges were filed.
When Kramer asked the mayor about Wilson's transfer, he took pains to say it wasn't his decision.
"I saw the video. I did not, however, have any involvement in that decision, nor did my City Hall. That was, my understanding is, a decision that was made in accordance with NYPD's administrative guidelines," Mamdani said.
Since taking office, the mayor has been careful to temper his actions regarding the NYPD. He kept Jessica Tisch, former Mayor Eric Adams' police commissioner, and he has yet to implement some of his campaign promises, including his call to disband the Strategic Response Group that responds to protests.