WATCH: New York City protestors erect autonomous zone as city cuts $1 billion from police budget | The Post Millennial
News
WATCH: New York City protestors erect autonomous zone as city cuts $1 billion from police budget
New Yorkers took to the streets on Tuesday to erect what they are calling the City Hall Autonomous Zone (CHAZ), similar to the CHOP in Seattle, which has been the site of a number of shootings in the past couple weeks.
New Yorkers took to the streets on Tuesday to erect what they are calling the City Hall Autonomous Zone (CHAZ), similar to the CHOP in Seattle, which has been the site of a number of shootings in the past couple weeks.
Reporter Julio Rosas began a thread on Twitter Tuesday, tweeting: "In NYC to cover the Occupy City Hall protest for @townhallcom and people have set up a “No Pig Zone.” They are calling for the city to defund and/or abolish the NYPD. A sign says this is the “City Hall Autonomous Zone.”
But it did not stay quiet and innocent the entire time, as one speaker with a microphone said that it is not enough to "vote them out"—referring to city council members who do not support defunding the police—but that the protesters need to "ruin their lives." This was followed by a flurry of applause and hollering.
Shelby Talcott, reporter for the Daily Caller, captured on video a man with a microphone, saying: "“I wanna put my foot on his fucking neck like he do us. I wanna put my foot on his back like he do us. I wanna hang him from a fucking tree like he do us.” Talcott added that this was directed at the police.
As New York's city council and Mayor Bill de Blasio agreed to cut the NYPD by $1 billion, which will include the cancelling of the incoming class of 1,163 new cadets, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez does not believe this is sufficient, according to Kerry Pickett.
“Defunding police means defunding police,” Ocasio-Cortez told the Gotham Gazette on Tuesday. “It does not mean budget tricks or funny math. It does not mean moving school police officers from the NYPD budget to the Department of Education’s budget, so the exact same police remain in schools.”
“It does not mean counting overtime cuts as cuts, even as NYPD ignores every attempt by City Council to curb overtime spending and overspends on overtime anyways,” she added.
“It does not mean hiring more police officers while cutting more than $800 million from NYC schools. If these reports are accurate, then these proposed ‘cuts’ to the NYPD’s budget are a disingenuous illusion.”
This comes as the number of shootings in New York City has surged, leaving 100 people injured or killed in the metro area in the past 9 days.
Libby’s Desk
Commentary and must-reads from Libby’s desk, straight to your inbox.
TPM Newsletter
The Post Millennial’s top stories, delivered to your inbox.