NYPD unions slam mayoral hopeful Maya Wiley’s new anti-cop campaign ad
NYPD union leaders and cops on Tuesday slammed Democratic mayoral hopeful Maya Wiley as “out of touch” and “dividing the city” with her new campaign ad claiming the department doesn’t value the lives of black New Yorkers.
“Maya Wiley is a de Blasio flunky and will soon be put on a shelf with other loser politicians who attempt to live off a government paycheck,” said Ed Mullins, president of the Sergeants Benevolent Association union, in a statement.
Mullins said Wiley’s anti-police stance explained why a recent poll ranked her fifth of the eight Democratic candidates heading into this month’s primary.
“Sadly, her silence on the increasing violence in NYC is indicative of how out of touch she is with the city and explains why she’s losing in the polls,” he said.
Wiley on Tuesday released a new ad showing footage of clashes between police and demonstrators who took to New York’s streets in May and June 2020 to protest the Minneapolis murder of George Floyd.
“They [police] ran into peaceful protesters, beat others to the ground, and New York’s leaders defended it,” narrated Wiley, a former MSNBC contributor and one-time counsel to one of those leaders, Mayor Bill de Blasio. “As mayor, I’ll be in charge, and I’ll get it done. Because it is time the NYPD sees us as people who deserve to breathe.”
The union chief went on to say that Wiley should focus on handcuffing felons, not the Finest.
“If she truly cared, she would stop self-promoting and start screaming about the gun violence taking the lives of young African American males on the streets of NYC,” he said.
Paul DiGiacomo, president of the Detectives’ Endowment Association union, disputed Wiley’s characterization of the 2020 demonstrations — which at times degenerated into looting and destruction — as peaceful protests.
“Maybe Maya Wiley wasn’t paying attention when the ‘peaceful’ riots were taking place in the streets of the city she wants to lead — but hundreds of cops were injured and the businesses of hardworking New Yorkers were destroyed,” said DiGiacomo in a statement. “If not for the police, the damage would have been even worse.
“I also can’t think of anyone who cares more for every person in every neighborhood than cops. To them it’s more than politics and hashtags,” he continued. “They’re on the ground risking it all every day to keep people safe — laying down their lives if necessary.”
One of DiGiacomo’s constituents predicted that Wiley’s rhetoric wouldn’t carry her through the June 22 primary.
“All she is doing is dividing the city,” one Brooklyn detective told The Post, speaking on condition of anonymity. “She should be spending more of her time and ad money on trying to help the minorities that are getting shot by minorities every day in the city. Thank God in three weeks we will never hear her name again.”
At a campaign event in Washington Square Park, Wiley responded to the criticisms.
“There’s simply no such thing as a public servant that gets to say, ‘Yeah, those laws don’t apply to me,'” she said.
“The police officers of the police department are people too,” Wiley added. “But whomever you are in this city … if you think you are above the law, then there’s going to be a new sheriff in town after June 22 that’s going to say every single person in this city matters, counts and no one is above the law, not even you.”
