‘I Thought Black Lives Mattered?’ Mayor Eric Adams Slams the Activist Movement Over New York City Crime

When asked how his administration would get a handle on an uptick in shootings, Mayor Eric Adams criticized the Black Lives Matter movement Wednesday for failing to mount large-scale protests against ongoing gun violence.

“If Black lives matter, then the thousands of people I saw on the street when [George] Floyd was murdered should be on the streets right now stating that the lives of these Black children that are dying every night matter,” Adams said. “We can’t be hypocrites.”

Adams was speaking on NY1 about the arrest of Frank James, who is accused of carrying out the shooting on a Brooklyn subway car Tuesday, when he was asked about more than a dozen other incidents of gun violence that happened in other parts of the city Tuesday night through Wednesday morning {snip}

“By being consistent with our message. Here is my question that I put out to the city: I thought Black lives mattered. Where are all those who stated Black lives matter?” he asked in response. “Then go do an analysis of who was killed or shot last night. {snip} The victims were Black. Many of the shooters were Black.”

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Adams has made crime the signature issue of both his campaign and administration, but is grappling with a dramatic rise in violent incidents since the start of his mayoralty. Major crimes are up 44 percent compared to last year, according to NYPD statistics from earlier this month. And shootings, which had already doubled over 2019, rose another 14 percent over the last year. {snip}

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Since winning the general election last year, Adams has clashed with Black Lives Matter of Greater New York and its co-founder, Hawk Newsome, over policing policies. Newsome said in an interview with POLITICO Wednesday that the mayor was attempting to deflect blame after not being able to control violent crime through the police department.

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