De Blasio says the National Guard is not needed in New York City
Mayor Bill de Blasio said the National Guard does not need to be activated in New York City to stop the violence and looting.
Video Transcript
- Do you expect the National Guard to be activated, and do you need their help, their numbers?
BILL DE BLASIO: Thank you, Rich. No, we do not need, nor do we think it's wise for the National Guard to be in New York City, nor any armed forces. I'm going to tell you why. And this is really important we have this out right now, if someone needs a history lesson.
When outside armed forces go into communities, no good comes of it. We have seen this for decades. Go back to the '50s, '60s with the civil rights movement, on through all the way up through the day. People who are not trained for the conditions in New York City-- they are public servants, they protect us in a different way, I appreciate them deeply, but they're not trained for the circumstance here.
They have not been spending decades working on the relationship between police and community, particularly in the intensive way it's been worked on in recent years. Every officer out there-- and some of them are imperfect, because we're all human beings, but the vast majority are doing their job, doing it well, doing it with restraint, because they've been trained incessantly to act with restraint.
A National Guard, a member of the Guard called up from any part of this state doesn't have that particular training, doesn't know our environment, but is carrying a loaded weapon. That is a bad scenario. So far, thank god we have not had a loss of life in these last five days. But you bring outside armed forces into equation that they are not trained for, people who can be very, very unnerved by the dynamics that our police officers have learned to work with and deal with, that is a dangerous scenario. So I want to just put down the marker, the National Guard should not be brought here.
We have 36,000 police officers. They are the best equipped to deal with this situation. And you know what will help them deal with the situation? Not the National Guard. The people of New York City are much more powerful than anything the National Guard could do. The true, authentic leaders of communities, members of the clergy, come out now. I'm calling you out. Civic leaders, block associations, come out now and stand up for peace, stand up against anyone who would do looting, stand up against anyone who would attack a police officer.
I know our communities. I know how many good people there are. I know how many stakeholders there are who will not accept this violence. But they now need to come to the fore. I've said about the Cure Violence movement, crucial piece of the equation, come to the fore. Stand up. Come to the fore. Do not let looters-- and they're not that many in the scheme of a city of 8 million people-- do not let criminals, do not let gang members, do not let anarchists get to call the shots. You-- it's your community. You call the shots.
