The communist mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani, dismantled the Strategic Response Group of the New York Police Department, the unit created to handle high-risk situations such as anti-terrorist threats and the containment of violent protests.
The Ugandan politician seeks to remove police officers from managing violent protests and replace them with a civilian unit. Under this new scheme, the police force would only serve a backup role, in case this more friendly approach towards violent groups and protesters fails to generate the expected peace and harmony.
"As the mayor has said, our administration will dissolve the Strategic Response Group and separate the response to protests from anti-terrorism tasks," declared Dora Pekec, spokesperson for Mamdani's administration. The Democratic Party member had noted in September that the police unit being dissolved was created "just over a decade ago with the initial intention of addressing terrorist threats against the city."
Mamdani dismantled the Anti-Terrorism Unit of the New York Police and will send civilians to stop the protests.
"And what it has become over time is a body that addresses both anti-terrorism and the response to the exercise of First Amendment rights. I don't believe these should be shared objectives. I believe we must maintain an anti-terrorist approach independent of our response to the use of the First Amendment," the mayor stated.
A union representing NYPD officers rejected the government decision through a statement on its Facebook page. "Mayor Mamdani has been scoring political points for years by pointing out and demonizing a specific group of police officers," they stated.
"He and his radical allies simply do not want the NYPD to intervene in controlling protests [...] We have warned that forcing police officers to stay on the sidelines until a march turns violent puts both officers and the public at risk. No matter what changes he makes, the mayor cannot be so naive as to believe that this will satisfy his base," the union added.
Following the death of George Floyd in 2020, violent protests erupted in the Big Apple and the Police were sued for defending themselves against this violence. Many warn that dissolving this unit is a precursor to dismantling the entire New York Police Department.
