New York City Mayor Eric Adams traced the rise in school shootings to the elimination of prayer from public schools during a breakfast event.

"When we took prayers out of schools, guns came into schools. Don't tell me about no separation of church and state. State is the body. Church is the heart. You take the heart out of the body, the body dies," Adams said at the annual Interfaith Breakfast in Manhattan, per Politico.

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Adams, a Christian, has also championed stronger law enforcement and gun safety measures to curtail gun violence. The Supreme Court banned school-imposed prayers in the 1962 Engel v. Vitale ruling.

His remarks drew quick backlash, particularly from progressive circles.

"We are a nation and a city of many faiths and no faith. In order for our government to truly represent us, it must not favor any belief over another, including non-belief," said Donna Lieberman, who leads the New York Civil Liberties Union.

The mayor of the Big Apple also noted that his religion guides his political decision-making.

"I can't separate my belief because I'm an elected official. When I walk, I walk with God. When I talk, I talk with God. When I put policies in place, I put them in with a God-like approach to them. That's who I am," he said.

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In response to the backlash, Adams's spokesperson argued that the mayor "believes all of our faiths would ensure we are humane to one another."

“While everyone in the room immediately understood what the mayor meant, it’s unfortunate that some have attempted to hijack the narrative in an effort to misrepresent the mayor’s comments," the spokesperson said in a statement.