Decryption | The NYPD, a thorn in the foot of Zohran Mamdani?

(New York) “We do not need an investigation to know that the NYPD is racist, anti-Queer and a major threat to public security. What we need is to define the NYPD. »»

Zohran Mamdani, unexpected leader of the New York town hall race, “tweeted” this message on June 28, 2020. Then the 28 -year -old, the neophyte candidate broke a seat in the New York assembly in the Queens arrondissement. His words echoed those of the activists of the Black Lives Matter movement, who swept through the streets to protest against police violence after the death of George Floyd, which occurred a month earlier.

They had not prevented her from being elected in November 2020. But today they offer his rivals another chance of slowing down the momentum of the socialist democrat to the town hall of New York, an election to the national impact which will take place next November.

After all, how can we assume one of the most important responsibilities of the mayor of New York-the supervision of the police (NYPD)-after having called to dismantle this service and treated its 32,000 police officers of all the names?

The question was invited last week to the New York town hall race for the shooting that killed four people, including a NyPD police officer, in a Manhattan office tower.

“I think it would be difficult to recruit police (if Mamdani was elected). Who would like to work for someone who treats racist police officers? “Asked the former governor of New York State Andrew Cuomo, who campaigned as a freelancer after being beaten by Zohran Mamdani during a Democratic primary held on June 24.

“I don’t think he understands the importance of public security and the importance of NYPD. »»

Another angle of attack

This is not the first time that rival candidates have been trying to exploit what seems to them to be a flaw in the armor of Zohran Mamdani, eloquent and charismatic candidate. The latter was notably accused of anti -Semitism for various reasons, including his attempt to justify the calls to “globalize the intifada”, a slogan which, according to his criticism, feeds violence and hatred towards the Jews.

In mid-June, he tried to defuse this controversy by claiming that he “discouraged” the use of the slogan. Insatistant, many of his criticisms reproached him for not having “condemned” the expression. They also criticized his use of the word “genocide” to describe the situation in the Gaza Strip.

Pain lost: so far, the accusation of anti-Semitism does not seem to slow down Zohran Mamdani, and this, despite the fact that no city has more Jews than New York, with the exception of Tel Aviv.

According to a survey published last week, the candidate for Muslim confession collects 50 % of voting intentions, against 22 % for Andrew Cuomo, 13 % for the outgoing mayor, Eric Adams, independent candidate, and 7 % for Curtis Sliwa, republican candidate.

Zohran Mamdani even enjoys an advance of 17 points on his closest rival, Andrew Cuomo, with Jewish voters, according to another survey published last week. Among 18-44 year olds, he collects 67 % of voting intentions.

In search of a more effective angle of attack, Zohran Mamdani’s rivals and criticisms emerged his antipolice “tweets” of 2020 after last week’s shooting. The former animator of Fox News Megyn Kelly set the tone by using it to question the sincerity of the tribute paid by the candidate for the town hall to Didarul Islam, the deceased police officer, on social networks.

No to nyp “definancing”

“How many police and residents of New York will still be killed if you become mayor, you who think that it is necessary to” define the police “and that” the New York police are racist “and constitutes a” major threat to public security “? Do not pretend that you are careful about the security of New Yorkers or the police. We don’t believe you, ”Fulminated Megyn Kelly on X.

The family of Didarul Islam, she seemed to believe Zohran Mamdani. Originally from Bangladesh, she opened its doors to the candidate born in Uganda of Indian parents and allowed her to sit among her during the funeral of the policeman, whose widow awaits a third child.

During a press conference, Zohran Mamdani spoke of this visit to the bereaved family by responding to the criticisms of their rivals about their “tweets” from the past.

“I do not understand that politicians seek to use (the shooting) to score political points in such a cynical way, the same day I held the father of the Islam agent in my arms when he could not pronounce a single word and that I felt him sobbing in memory of his 36 -year -old son, who will never come back to the house. »»

During the same press conference, Zohran Mamdani repeated that he was no longer in favor of the “definancing” of the NYPD. He also assigned his criticism from the NYPD in 2020 to “a frustration that many New Yorkers felt following the murder of George Floyd”. And he said that his criticisms do not correspond to his current opinions.

However, he maintained his promise to dismantle a unit of NYPD called Strategic Response Group, whose muscular methods during New York demonstrations are often denounced by progressives.

It turns out that the same unit was deployed during last week’s shooting in New York, which mayor Adams did not fail to emphasize during the funeral of Didarul Islam.

Obviously, the question of the NYPD Force Zohran Mamdani to engage in a high aerobatics exercise, even before being elected.