‘This is not my district, but our thoughts are with all officers & people impacted by this shooting & the epidemic of gun violence in this country…’
(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) Violence against police officers continues to rise in New York City, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio–Cortez, D-N.Y., suggested the National Rifle Association and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., are to blame.
After two New York Police Department officers were shot this weekend, Ocasio–Cortez was asked to respond. She did so with a tweet, deflecting responsibility by claiming it did not occur within the confines of her congressional district.
This is not my district, but our thoughts are with all officers & people impacted by this shooting & the epidemic of gun violence in this country.
Perhaps you would get less mixed up if McConnell stood up to the NRA & passed common-sense gun safety measures to reduce shootings.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 9, 2020
It is unclear how attacks on law-enforcement would be curbed by additional anti-gun measures—of which blue-state New York already has an abundant number.
New York City Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said the idea that gun control would have prevented the two attacks is simply not true.
The perpetrator had a “lengthy violent criminal history,” Shea said Sunday, including a 10-year prison sentence for attempted murder, according to The Washington Post. This means the perpetrator had already been barred from owning or possessing firearms.
New York City’s police unions have blamed the increasing antagonism toward law enforcement on this kind of misguided rhetoric. Just this week, the Sergeants Benevolent Association announced it was “declaring war” on NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio, who “sold the NYPD to the vile creatures, the 1% who hate cops.”
Patrick Lynch, president of the NYC Police Benevolent Association, urged de Blasio and New York’s other elected officials to “start listening to us and working with us—not against us.”
“These targeted attacks are exactly what we have warned against, again and again,” Lynch said. “The hatred and violence directed at cops continues to grow. Good luck and kind words are not enough to keep police officers or the public safe.”