Progressive New York City lawmakers have demanded personal protection from the NYPD, despite previously boasting about how the department should be defunded or abolished.
Big Apple politicians, including councilors Chi Osse and Shahana Hanif, have reportedly sought protection after receiving “particularly worrying” death threats in recent weeks, leading them to change their minds about the need to count with police
His past stances included Halif calling for “reducing our police force to zero” – abolishing it – and Osse declaring that he “doesn’t talk pigs”.
Following his requests for cover from the NYPD, a Brooklyn cop told the New York Post: ‘I wouldn’t expect anything less from a couple of hypocritical politicians…why don’t they go out and hire private security?’
Several members of the New York City Council, including Chi Osse (pictured), have sought protection from the NYPD after receiving death threats, despite previously calling for the department to be defunded .
An employee of Shahana Hanif (pictured being arrested by the NYPD) said she received “particularly disturbing” threats, but her calls for police protection come after she campaigned to “reduce the force to zero” of officers and called for abolishing all prisons.
Hanif’s campaign website still displays her disdain for the NYPD and calls for the abolition of the police whose protection she demands.
Osse stated on Instagram that he ‘doesn’t talk to pigs (pig emoji) in June 2020
Osse and Hanif were joined in their calls for protection from the NYPD by two other council members allegedly unpopular in police circles, Yusef Salaam and Carlina Rivera.
The council members’ offices did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The group has reportedly become a frequent target in the Big Apple since the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas on October 7, and has angered some locals for its support of pro-Palestine protests.
This included Hanif who reportedly once voted against a “Day to End Jew Hatred,” and Osse who called Hamas’ cause “legitimate.”
Amid the growing backlash, an Osse employee texted another council colleague to warn them about “credible” death threats Osse received.
“It’s disgusting,” they said, in texts seen by the Post. “I’ve been clutching my non-existent pearls on some of the threats made… And some have been deemed credible by security and the NYPD.”
The employee noted Osse’s anti-police rhetoric in the past while discussing the need for police protection, adding: “And for him to be so critical, if the PD says we should evacuate/be careful and then listen.”
But while Osse now feels he needs cops to protect him, he previously stated that NYPD officers don’t actually intend to help people, and only hope to “exercise power over others.”
“If police officers really wanted to help people, they would become paramedics or firefighters,” he said in a September 2020 report. cheep. “I truly believe that most people want to become police officers so they can exert power over others.”
While he is now asking the NYPD for protection, Hanif previously argued that arresting people “doesn’t make us safer” and argued that prisons argued that incarceration results in physical and mental trauma, death and disproportionately impacts people. black and brown communities.
Osse’s calls for security from the NYPD come after he previously stated that he supported ‘violence interrupters’ in the community.
Osse’s concern about death threats also comes despite reportedly Politics New York in December 2020 that he “is a big supporter of violence interrupters” in the community.
“He said he doesn’t believe more police will solve public safety problems,” the outlet reported.
Osse – who has a place on the New York City Council Public Safety Committee – His calls for new protection from the New York Police Department were joined by a councilman who even called for the abolition of the entire department.
In its campaign platform websiteShahana Hanif said that if elected, she would “defund the police and reduce our police force to zero.”
He also called for “dismantling the use of jails and prisons” and argued that “incarceration does not make us safer, but rather causes physical and mental trauma, death, and disproportionately impacts Black and Brown communities.”
The website also calls for the general release of prisoners, saying it will “pressure the State to release people who are currently incarcerated by demanding the Governor grant clemency and increase the feasibility of early release.”
According to the Post, a Hanif employee said the councilwoman reported “elevated” and “particularly concerning” threats to her office in recent weeks.
While he now calls for protection, Hanif previously sparked outrage among the New York City Council’s Progressive Caucus when he co-chaired it in February 2023, when he required members to sign a new loyalty pledge.
Their demands that council members promise to “do everything possible to reduce the size and scope of the NYPD and the Department of Corrections” led 15 members of the 34-member group to resign.
Also among the council members who requested protection was Councilwoman Carlina Rivera, who had NYPD officers called to her offices earlier this month after a suspicious package was mailed to her.
Amid the threats a ‘security assessment’ was also carried out at the offices of Yusef Salaam, who previously spearheaded the controversial ‘How Many Stops Law’ hated by the police.
Calls for police protection were reinforced by a call last week from Rivera’s office, when his staff reported that a mysterious package was mailed to his office in midtown Manhattan.
Officers arrived at his office on April 16 after an employee reportedly opened a letter with an “unknown white powder” inside.
Although investigators found the dust to be non-hazardous, Rivera’s staff reportedly felt “threatened for their safety.”
The Post reported that Salaam also received a disturbing phone call that prompted the NYPD to conduct a “security assessment” of his offices.
Both Salaam and Rivera were reportedly attacked for their pro-Palestinian comments and were known as leading forces behind a controversial police law passed in December.
Known as the ‘How Many Stops Law,’ the legislation now requires officers to write reports on nearly every interaction they have, including low-level stops, which are said to drown cops in paperwork.
Rivera voted in 2020 to defund the NYPD by $1 billion, however Salaam has previously stated that he does not support defunding the police movement and insisted that “we need police.”