NYC police commissioner gives update on violent protests, police response
New York City Police Commissioner Dermot Shea joins 'Fox & Friends' after another night of violence in the city in response to George Floyd's death.
New York City Police Commissioner Dermot Shea joined “Fox & Friends” on Monday describing the “four days in a row of significant protests” over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody as “a dark time.”
“This is one of the most challenging times that I’ve seen in nearly 30 years of policing,” Shea said, describing the violence that has erupted, which he said includes looting and shootings.
Chaos broke out as rioters hijacked what had been peaceful protests over the death of Floyd. Looting and destruction continued during overnight riots in New York City for a third night in a row.
Fox News crews on the scene in SoHo reported hundreds of people stealing from luxury stores – including Chanel and Dior – for hours on Sunday night going into the early hours of Monday morning. The looters were seen piling shoplifted merchandise into vehicles while others rode off with the merchandise in black garbage bags balanced on CitiBikes.
“Most of the day we had large crowds throughout the city in multiple boroughs yesterday, but when it got dark, things changed and they changed rapidly,” Shea said Monday morning.
“We anticipated it, but you saw that large groups of people had no inclination towards protest once it got dark, particularly the area of SoHo.””
He went on to say that police were still on scene making arrests after a “significant number of stores” were broken into.
“There have been hundreds of arrests,” Shea said.
Host Brian Kilmeade noted that it seemed like there weren’t enough officers to respond to the chaos saying it seems as though the rioters “outmaneuvered you.”
GEORGE FLOYD PROTESTS IN NYC TURN VIOLENT: OFFICERS PUNCHED, PELTED, MORE THAN 40 PEOPLE ARRESTED
Kilmeade then asked Shea, “Do you feel as though you were caught unable to respond to the challenge that was in front of you?”
“There’s no doubt it’s a challenging time,” Shea said in response.
“I can tell you that we had thousands of officers deployed last night,” he added, saying that the NYPD “made radical shifts” and pulled officers “from all lanes of the department” to respond to the situation.
“In terms of balancing orderly protest, respecting people’s rights to peacefully assemble, that was going on all day throughout New York City, large crowds in Brooklyn, smaller crowds in Queens, significant crowds in Manhattan, but then it turned dark and it turned ugly and it turned that way fast,” Shea continued.
Floyd died Monday after Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis police officer, pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck. The officer has been charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter; he and three other officers were fired from the force after video of Floyd’s death emerged.
Shea said there has been evidence that the violence was orchestrated by organized groups.
“We had individuals again last night showing up with Molotov cocktails. We had an incident where a police car was shot at last night in Queens,” Shea said on Monday. “When you see incidents like this, turn in a very rapid fashion… there is evidence of an organization at times behind some of this activity.
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“In terms of the looting, people taking an opportunity at the worst time, at a time when we all need to come together,” he continued.