New York City Mayor Eric Adams warned those protesting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that law enforcement will not “allow you to destroy our city” after more than 80 people were arrested in the Big Apple on Tuesday.
“Commissioner [Jessica] Tisch gave a very loud and clear message, we will allow peaceful protests, but we will not allow you to destroy our city or harm innocent people, and we will take action whenever that takes place,” Adams said during his Wednesday appearance on Newsmax.
The anti-ICE raid protests in Los Angeles, which have dominated headlines in recent days, have popped up in other cities across the country. At least 80 individuals were arrested in Lower Manhattan by the New York Police Department (NYPD) on Tuesday. Those people were accused of throwing metal trash bins at federal immigration officers’ vans and blocking the entrance to a building.
“We know that there are those who travel our country, embed themselves into issues like antifa and others, and they have one goal in mind, and that is to provoke and to create disruption and disorder, particularly with our law enforcement community. We identify them immediately, remove them from the crowds, and take proper police practice when they cross the line,” Adams told host Greta Van Susteren.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch echoed Adams’s warning to demonstrators Wednesday morning.
“We want to maintain everyone’s right to protest peacefully in the city and in this country, but we will not tolerate chaos and disorder or violence, and when we saw people breaking the rule or breaking the law, we stepped in, made arrests swiftly,” Tisch said during her appearance on “Good Day New York.”
Adams said the police officers involved in maintaining safety go through an “extensive level” of training.
“You have people who criticize these units, but we have to just ignore the noise when it comes down to public safety, whatever equipment that’s needed, whatever training that’s needed, we’re going to do it. I’m not taking any shortcuts and keeping our city safe,” the New York City mayor said.