Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams got into a tense debate with “The Breakfast Club” podcast hosts during a discussion on the death of New York Police Department (NYPD) officer Jonathan Diller.
Diller died from a gunshot wound allegedly fired by 34-year-old Guy Rivera, who had been arrested 21 times prior and had served prison time over a gun charge, according to the New York Post. A police source said 41-year-old Lindy Jones, who also has a lengthy criminal record, allegedly accompanied Rivera during the shooting.
Lawyer and commentator Olayemi Olurin accused the rhetoric of both Adams and the NYPD of “sensationalizing crime.”
“In the same breath that you want to sensationalize, you want to highlight and point out how an officer was killed the other day which is a rare occurrence across the United States but let alone in New York, New York police officers have killed at least seven people this year, including a 19-year-old,” Olurin said.
“First of all, I am not going to dismiss the loss of a life of an innocent person that wears a uniform!” Adams said.
“But you do of the 31 people that died at Rikers [Island prison],” Olurin shot back.
“A rare occurrence. I feel like, I don’t want to take you out of context and I want people to all of a sudden decide that you have been dismissive of a young man who has been killed,” Adams said. (RELATED: Trump Blasts Biden Over Response To Murdered NYPD Officer, Says He ‘Could Have Called’)
“Mayor…that’s not gonna work on me,” she fired back.
Adams pointed to the rising violent crime rate in New York City and described the anguish of sitting in a hospital with the mother of an 11-month-old baby who was shot in the head, along with other families facing tragedies. Olurin accused him of ignoring the fatal shootings committed by NYPD officers.
She specifically referred to the killing of a 19-year-old man in the Ozone Park section of Queens, New York, who got fatally shot by NYPD officers after he wielded scissors, according to ABC 7 New York. Officers responded to an incident after the 19-year-old’s mother called about him acting erratically.
The officers initially tased the 19-year-old as he charged them with scissors, though the mother rushed to his aid and “accidentally knocked the tasers out of his body,” according to ABC 7 New York. He charged the officers with the scissors once again, leading the officers to open fire.
“Listen, I’m not trying to work anything on you. I lost a member of the police department. The same way I go to see a mother of an 11-month-old baby that was shot in the head when I first became mayor and I sat in the hospital with her, the same way I go visit these mothers that lose their children to gun violence, I go see them,” Adams said.
The New York City mayor said his city is the “safest big city in America.” Olurin continued to accuse his rhetoric of making people feel unsafe in his city.
Olurin has described herself as “a movement lawyer, political commentator, writer, and abolitionist thinker” on her website. She has claimed to inform “people about system racism, abolition, and why we should divest from the prison industrial complex.” She has also advocated for shutting down Rikers Island, her website stated.
The New York City Council voted to shut down Rikers in Oct. 2019. However, Jacques Jiha, Budget Director for New York City, said during a preliminary budget hearing that four replacement jails will not be completed by the 2027 deadline previously set for the closure of Rikers, City & State New York reported.
