"At this moment of mourning and grief, I want to thank law enforcement for their response to the horrific shooting on Monday, and their work in keeping New Yorkers safe," Zohran Mamdani said.
The Democratic nominee returned from vacation in Uganda on Wednesday and visited the family of slain NYPD Officer Didarul Islam as Mamdani's opponents pounced on previous statements he made that were critical of the NYPD.
"When you start dismantling the pieces of the le apparatus specifically designed to carry out these functions and not understanding these roles really can harm law enforcement," said Mayor Eric Adams on CNBC.
"The assemblyman calls for the dismantling of the SRG, that is the group that responds to terrorist attacks," Andrew Cuomo said. "It is the group that responded to the shooting on Monday. So, he just doesn't understand, and he is dangerous in that regard."
Mamdani responded to those criticisms, saying "my statements in 2020 were made amidst a frustration many New Yorkers held at the murder of George Floyd."
Mamdani concedes he did take positions disparaging the police, in the tense summer of 2020, before he was an elected official, but now, as an assembly member and mayoral candidate, he insists his views on police have evolved.
"I know Gov. Cuomo is far more comfortable in the past whether it be his own or attacking me for tweets before I was even an assembly member," Mamdani said. "The vision that we put forward despite what others say is not to defund the police, it is to allow officers to respond to the serious crimes many of them signed up to address, and to do so by ensuring we ask them to focus on those crimes and we ask mental health professionals to respond to mental health crises."
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