Former New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio had contributed to police officers turning against him by running an “anti-police campaign” for mayor in 2013, the Huffington Post reports.
Kelly appeared on ABC’s “This Week” to discuss the killing of two NYPD officers. When asked by host George Stephanopoulos if it’s fair for critics to partially blame de Blasio for the death of the two cops, Kelly said the mayor had set off a “firestorm” by raising concerns over his son’s safety.
“Obviously, there’s a lot of emotion involved when two police officers are killed,” Kelly said. “When the mayor made statements about how they had to train his son, who is biracial, to be careful when he’s dealing with the police, I think that set off this latest firestorm.”
Kelly served as police commissioner from 2002 to 2013, and is a staunch defender of the city’s stop and frisk policy — which de Blasio promised to reform during his mayoral campaign.
“Quite frankly, the mayor ran an anti-police campaign last year when he ran for mayor,” Kelly told ABC.
“You’re talking about his opposition to stop and frisk,” Stephanopoulos asked. “Is that what you think was anti-police?”
“I think a lot of the rhetoric was — at a time when the police had a 70 percent approval rating,” Kelly replied. “Obviously that’s not the case now.”
{Andy Heller-Matzav.com Newscenter}
