https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/11/nyregion/mamdani-police-apology-floyd.html

Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City, said on Thursday that he intended to apologize for comments he made in 2020 calling the New York Police Department “racist, anti-queer & a major threat to public safety.”

He said that the remarks, which he wrote in June 2020 in a social media post in support of the defund the police movement, were made after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis a month earlier.

The comments were made “at the height of frustration,” he said in an interview with The New York Times, and were not reflective of his current campaign or “my view of public safety and the fact that police will be critical partners in delivering public safety.”

  • Carrolade@lemmy.worldEnglish
    64·
    6 days ago

    He’s going to have to work with them after he becomes mayor, whether he likes it or not. Prematurely making extra enemies is not very forward-thinking, he has enough as it is.

      • Carrolade@lemmy.worldEnglish
        61·
        6 days ago

        Probably both, it’s not an either/or. He’s working within a pluralistic society though, he won’t have dictatorial power. He can’t just decree the abolishment of the NYPD.

        • geneva_convenience@lemmy.mlOP
          22·
          6 days ago

          What is the point of him becoming mayor if he will not use his power to change the things that are currently wrong?

          That was literally supposed to be the one thing he did. And he is not supposed to abolish the entire police. But change it so it would not be so racist and corrupt.

          • Carrolade@lemmy.worldEnglish
            31·
            6 days ago

            Again, it’s not either/or. This statement of his does not indicate that he will keep everything the same. It just indicates he’s proficient at playing politics in a system with multiple centers of power. I would call that kind of awareness of his situation a good sign for getting actually meaningful reform.

              • Carrolade@lemmy.worldEnglish
                21·
                6 days ago

                Sure, except changes are happening all the time, both in positive and negative directions. The world is a messy place, with a lot going on, on any given day. I do understand that it is very tempting to wish for simple solutions and to blame all of our problems on this or that ideology, but you can’t escape humans acting like humans.

                  • Carrolade@lemmy.worldEnglish
                    21·
                    6 days ago

                    Cute. But being liberal doesn’t mean you have to love every member of your coalition. Just means you have to deal with people living in a free society.