By: Emily MacIntire
New York State’s Governor Andrew Cuomo is taking heat from police union head, who criticized him for giving “zero support for us” by failing to tackle repeated attacks on state troopers during the George Floyd-inspired rioting.
State Troopers PBA president Thomas Mungeer charged publicly that the governor has promised to “diminish the rights of your NYS Troopers” by throwing his support behind a measure that would expose the disciplinary records of officers to the light of day. He also blamed Cuomo for preventing cops from working closely with federal law enforcement under the Green Light Law that permits illegal aliens to get driver’s licenses.
“I find it appalling that you have not condemned the violence directed at your New York State Troopers during the riots across the state. In fact, during your daily briefing today you repeatedly used the word ‘ugly’ to describe recent events but did not acknowledge that the Troopers under your command have been responding to riots with unwavering loyalty to public safety,” Mungeer said in a letter to Cuomo, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Post.
According to Mungeer’s letter, “What Troopers are being called upon to respond to across the state are not peaceful protests or voices of reason urging societal changes, these are violent riots taking place around the state including New York City, Syracuse, Buffalo, Rochester and Albany, just blocks from the Executive Mansion. Peaceful protestors do not arrive with hammers and Molotov cocktails, burn police cars, smash the windows of businesses or spray graffiti on St. Patrick’s Cathedral — criminal opportunists and vandals do. Peaceful protestors do not start fires in the streets or to businesses — arsonists do. Peaceful protestors do not gather en masse to openly disregard laws, create havoc and impede on the rights of the general public — rioters do.”
For his part, Cuomo has called for standardized police misconduct policies across America. The Governor said federal and state governments should pass laws requiring police misconduct investigations be conducted by independent, outside agencies – not by local prosecutors. He called on the federal government to define excessive force by a police officer by one standard all across the nation.
In advocating for the release of disciplinary records of officers who are accused of misconduct, Cuomo argued every public school should provide the same level of funding for each child so there are not two education systems – one for the rich and one for the poor.
“The real issue is the continuing racism in this country and it is chronic and it is endemic and it is institutional and it speaks to a collective hypocrisy,” Cuomo said. “We’re very good in this country at telling other people how they should live their lives and how they should act, but we still discriminate on the basis of color of skin. That is the simple, painful truth – but this is a moment for truth. Our challenge today is to use this moment, use this energy constructively and demand real positive change. And articulate what the change is that we want. George Floyd must not have died in vain. Mr. Floyd’s killing must be a moment in which this nation actually learned and grew and progressed to make this place a better place.”
