NYC Mayor Eric Adams slams social media after Texas school shooting
Mayor Eric Adams on Wednesday blasted social media that glorifies violence and its impact on New York City’s children in the aftermath of the Texas elementary school shooting that left 19 students and two teachers dead.
Adams at a press conference held up a viral video of multiple kids waving guns, mouthing the words “I try to catch me a body” — a euphemism for killing someone.
“We’re not blaming our children. Our children did not create this world. We did,” said Adams, who added that children do not manufacture firearms or create laws. “We’re betraying them.”
“Social media knows this is going on and they’re allowing it to happen,” he added. “This is a perfect storm for violence.”
The police department is looking into where the video was recorded, officials told The Post, and if the children are based in New York City.
The clip was posted to social media by an activist, and Adams said it received more than 275,000 views.
“I got my phone because I hope all of you will look at this video on Instagram,” Adams told reporters. “It really makes it concrete of what we are saying about the culture of violence that has become pervasive in our city, in the country.
“We’re trying to get the exact location of where it was filmed. It was on Instagram and the danger of Instagram is that it can influence outside of one location,” he said. “It’s unbelievable how social media is being used to indoctrinate hate in our children.”
An Instagram account believed to belong to the Texas school shooter contained photos of guns and selfies, The Post previously reported. The user tagged another account, allegedly a stranger, in a photo with a gun and messaged her that he “got a lil secret.”
Adams and top brass conceded at the press conference that more can be done to keep students safe in schools and on their commutes across the five boroughs.
In the Big Apple, school safety agents have recovered 20 guns since the start of the school year, according to new data — including a ghost gun and a firearm with the serial number scratched off. There were six school gun busts in 2018-19, the last complete school year when students were learning full-time in classrooms, The Post has reported.
More than 5,500 weapons total have been found during the 2021-22 school year as of this month, many of them pepper-spray and knives, officials said.
“We’ve been very fortunate in New York City, we’ve not had a mass shooting,” Schools Chancellor David Banks said, pointing to school-based mental health support and more than 70,000 staff trained to respond to trauma.
Banks and Adams said the schools are also looking into other measures, like locking school doors once kids arrive or adding non-invasive mobile gun detectors to the buildings.
“We all feel the necessity to do more at this time,” Banks said. “Nothing is easy in New York. There are conversations that you have to have with lots of people.”
Officials said they are also looking for support and feedback from parents and students, and meeting with union leaders to brainstorm ideas.
