In a rare move, the fiery head of the city’s largest police union called the death of George Floyd at the hands of cops “murder” — as he raged against anti-cop rhetoric at a press conference on Randall’s Island attended by hundreds of police officers Tuesday.
“Not one woman or man that has a shield on their chest, a patch on their shoulder — regardless of what arm of law enforcement they come from — will support or defend a murder of an innocent person, and that’s what happened,” Police Benevolent Association president Patrick Lynch told the scores of officers.
“Let us be unequivocal,” said Lynch, who’s typically a staunch defender of cops. “In all my time, I’ve never seen a time where not one law enforcement would support — eight minutes is wrong. There was no struggle. There was no reason. So I know I speak on behalf of every police officer here, it was wrong, we denounce it and we have from the beginning.”
Floyd was killed May 25 when Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes during an arrest for allegedly passing a fake $20 bill.
Presidents of all the city’s police unions attended the event, including captains, lieutenants, detectives, sergeants, Port Authority and MTA. There were also representatives from police unions in Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester counties, as well as state police, along with state and local corrections unions.
Lynch went on to denounce the protesters who have spewed hatred at the cops or committed violent acts.
“We’ve protested,” Lynch said. “We believe in it and we believe in their rights, but now we’re being guided by those that were intent on violence from outside our communities, that threw the stone, that broke the window, that caused the violence that injured 300 police officers, some viciously. That’s who we denounce.”
He had criticism for pols who “demonize police officers as if we’re the problem, as if we broke the window, as if we caused the violence.”
He also criticized legislators in Albany for their passage of bail reform and warned that they were again not having dialogue with the police about legislation they’re passing now. One such move under consideration in Albany is the repeal of state law known as 50a, the law that keeps cops’ personnel records sealed — a move his union has opposed.
He also excoriated the Brooklyn DA prosecuting the cop caught on video shoving a female protester during a melee in Brooklyn.