Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum clashed with New York Black Lives Matter co-founder Hawk Newsome as they discussed the planned reintroduction of undercover units to the NYPD once Eric Adams becomes the city’s mayor after the new year.
Newsome has previously threatened ‘riots’ and ‘bloodshed’ on the streets of New York City if Adams reinstates the NYPD’s anti-crime units, which were disbanded last year at the height of the violent BLM protests in the wake of the George Floyd killing.
On Friday, during an appearance on Fox News, Newsome accused Adams of attempting to score political party points, while calling out the anchor for her ‘white privilege’ when she tried to press him on the rampant crime that has plagued the city over the past year.
NYC Black Lives Matter Walter ‘Hawk’ Newsome, right, defended his criticism of New York City Mayor-elect Eric Adams over reinstating NYPD plainclothes division on Fox News with Martha MacCallum on Friday night
‘The mayor is engaging in a political circus. And my parents didn’t raise a clown. So, I’m not here to play these circus-type political games with him.
‘Look at what happened after we engaged in this back and forth. He was on (Stephen) Colbert, he was on Anderson Cooper, he was on Bill Maher. I made him famous, right, for this spat we had. And if the mayor truly cared about what’s best for the city, he would’ve talked about the things we agreed upon in that meeting. But didn’t want to discuss that, Martha. He just wants the hype and the attention,’ Newsome said.
Adams, a former NYPD captain, has vowed to bring back the controversial anti-crime units composed of about 600 plainclothes officers that target violent crimes – something BLM has been angry about.
‘This is what I’m going to do. That was my promise and I’m going to keep it,’ said Adams last month.
New York BLM co-founder Hawk Newsome, pictured during an NYC press conference in September 2021, has threatened ‘riots’ and ‘bloodshed’ in the streets if Mayor-elect Eric Adams reinstates the NYPD’s anti-crime units
Newsome vowed there would be blood in the streets if Adams went through with his promise.
‘There will be riots. There will be fire, and there will be bloodshed. I am not threatening anyone. I am just saying that it’s a natural response to aggressive oppression, people will react.’
MacCallum argued that crime in New York has risen since the plainclothes unit was disbanded by Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Newsome responded by citing the city’s poverty levels.
‘People are starving,’ he said.
‘People need to be safe, Hawk’, MacCallum said. ‘They need to know that the police are gonna have their backs.’
‘People need jobs and opportunity,’ Newsome responded.
‘Absolutely, do what you can to keep the kids safe and let the police officers go out and keep those same kids safe,’ MacCallum argued. ‘They’re dying at the hands of gangs.’
Newsome wasn’t buying it.
‘The things that he’s saying, precision policing, focusing on gangs, these are all things that de Blasio said. Crime isn’t just up in New York City. It’s up around the country, so what is he going to do that’s different other than talk?’ Newsome said.
Mayor-elect Eric Adams (pictured delivering his victory speech on November 2), a moderate candidate, defeated progressive rivals in June’s Democratic primary on a law-and-order ticket, pledging to crack down on violent crime that soared in New York City during the pandemic
MacCallum continued to make her case for the reintroduction of the plainclothes police units.
‘The purpose of this unit that he wants to put back on the street was to clean up illegal guns, violence, and hard drugs on the street. So I’m asking you, what is wrong with putting this unit back on the street if it keeps children of New York City and adults safer?’
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Newsome again countered.
‘Ok, there’s this thing called the Constitution. The Fourth Amendment protects us against illegal search and seizure. Secondly, this unit has been responsible for the most high-profile deaths in the city. He isn’t saying what he’s going to do differently,’ he said.
The conversation suddenly turned once Newsome brought up his own experience as a black man at the hands of police.
‘You don’t know what it’s like, you don’t know what it’s like to be pulled over and thrown up against walls,’ he explained.
‘You don’t know what it’s like, you don’t know what it’s like to be pulled over and thrown up against walls,’ Newsome explained during his interview on Fox News
‘Come on, don’t throw that at me!’ MacCallum interjected You know what? I want this whole city of people of every background, faith, color to be safer. What I see on the street is that that not what is happening since this unit was disbanded,’ MacCallum explained
‘No, I don’t. I will cede that to you,’ MacCallum agreed.
‘You live from a place of white privilege, where you don’t …’ Newsome started.
‘Come on, don’t throw that at me!’ MacCallum interjected. ‘You know what? I want this whole city of people of every background, faith, color to be safer. What I see on the street is that, not what is happening since this unit was disbanded,’ MacCallum said in her defense before attempting to bring the interview to a conclusion.
Newsome, a controversial New York figure who has labeled members of the U.S. government ‘terrorists’ because the ‘government goes and pillages different countries,’ last month slammed Adams’s hard-nosed approach to bringing back the plainclothes units.
When the BLM leader asked during their sit-down if the stop-and-frisk is coming back, the mayor-elect responded: ‘Stop-and-frisk never went away, brother.’
‘It’s about bringing back a sense of protection in our city and not the disorder we feel at this time,’ Adams had said earlier this month prior to being elected, regarding his plan to clean up the city streets – which have seen an influx of violent crime since the start of the pandemic.
New York City recorded a staggering 26 percent spike in shootings compared to the same period last year
Adams plans to reinstate the NYPD’s plainclothes police units, which Newsome warned would be greeted with ‘riots’. Pictured: People march in Brooklyn after Derek Chauvin court case
According to the latest New York City crime statistics, there has been an almost 25% rise in robberies compared with November 2020.
There were 1,056 incidents in 2020, with 1,317 robberies reported in November 2021.
According to the NYPD’s latest monthly numbers, overall crime was up 1.73 percent last month compared with November 2020. Felony assault was up by 8.3 percent.
There has also been an increase in the amount of crime committed in New York City housing complexes, with an 11% rise compared with November 2020 and a 6% increase overall year on year.
In the city as a whole, crime is up on the year to-date some three percent compared to 2020, with an almost 20 percent increase compared with November 2020.
Shootings are also up. Over the last 28 days, there have been 151 shootings, a 26 percent jump compared to the 120 recorded for the same period last year.
Shootings had soared across the city in the summer of 2020 after de Blasio did away with the plainclothes unit in June 2020, after an outpouring of anti-police sentiment following George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis and the ‘defund the police’ movement.
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