De Blasio Threatens to Sue Trump if He Tries to Stop Soaring Violence in New York
Democratic NYC mayor refuses help from the president
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New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio vowed to sue President Donald Trump if he tries to stop the massive spike in violent crime in the city.
Mayor de Blasio, a Democrat, blasted Trump’s threat as “bluster” during his daily press briefing.
“If he tried to do it, it would only create more problems,” the mayor said.
“We would immediately take action in court to stop it.”
“I do believe it’s bluster. I do believe we can beat him in court, " de Blasio added.
"It would just create a lot of pain and confusion. Maybe that’s what he wants.”
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Earlier this week, Trump called on New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) to put an end to the exploding crime in the city.
Trump said:
"If the governor is not going to do something about it, we’ll do something about it.”
The president also suggested he may send in federal law enforcement officers, as he did in Portland, Oregon last week.
Recent viral videos showed Federal agents scooping up Antifa rioters in the city last week.
WATCH:
Take these terrorists off the streets and disappear them for months. Oh if only. pic.twitter.com/NYW7qKCXSw
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) July 15, 2020
But Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler wasn't happy with federal agents in his city.
“Keep your troops in your own buildings, or have them leave our city,” Wheeler told President Donald Trump.
"This is part of the core media strategy out of Trump’s White House: to use federal troops to bolster his sagging polling data.
"And it is an absolute abuse of federal law enforcement officials.”
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De Blasio called the feds’ response in Portland a “fiasco” that has “totally backfired.”
“I have a lot of faith in the NYPD, but I do not have faith in the notion of just throwing in federal law enforcement for obviously political reasons,” he said.
“That always backfires.”
Democratic Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot recently vowed to stop Trump sending in federal law enforcement officials to end the escalating violence in her city.
"That’s not going to happen in Chicago, and if they try it, I’m going to use every tool at my disposal to stop them," Lightfoot said.
Meanwhile, NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea, who recently blasted de Blasio over the recent surge in violent crime in NYC, was more accepting of Trump's help.
“I always thank people for lending assistance, but we have the resources here,” Shea said on CNN Tuesday morning.
“I hope I’m being very clear here. We have a lot of obstacles, but we’re going to get out of this — NYPD, New York City residents, leaders all across New York City — together.”
Following a bloody 4th of July weekend, Mayor de Blasio attempted to blame the recent surge of violent crime in the city on the coronavirus.
The mayor defended the recent policing reforms, which saw $1 billion in cuts to the NYPD with his support.
