Councilman slams Dermot Shea for skipping chokehold hearing

A city councilman slammed NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea for sending his second-in-command Benjamin Tucker to a virtual council hearing on police chokeholds Tuesday — as he reminded that Tucker, who is black, was twice turned down for the job as top cop.

“Speaking of who is here today, where is the commissioner?” Queens Councilman Donovan Richards said at the start of the hearing. “I do see the man who maybe should be the commissioner, Deputy Commissioner Tucker.”

He continued, “Commissioner Shea had an opportunity to answer for the actions of the department in the middle of a major crisis over the history of racialized brutality in this city and he sends the black man who didn’t get the job.”

Tucker was first passed over for commissioner in 2016, when Mayor Bill de Blasio tapped James O’Neill, and again last year, when Shea was appointed. Tucker was promoted to first deputy commissioner in 2014.

On Tuesday, he appeared before the City Council to tell them that the NYPD is reversing its stance on legislation banning the use of chokeholds.

“The department can support this legislation with minor amendments,” Tucker was to say, according to his prepared remarks.

Richards continued to rip Shea — and de Blasio — for his no-show Tuesday.

“That’s just shameful,” he told Tucker. “You shouldn’t have to answer for him today or for the mayor, the mayor who rode into office on promises of police reform and equality and completely abandoned them once he got through the door.”