A New York congressman who is also an Army National Guard captain decried the inaction of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, after a fifth straight night of protests morphed into looting and rioting.
In a statement released Tuesday morning, New York Rep. Max Rose called for the National Guard to be deployed before accusing de Blasio of allowing the protests to spiral out of control as bad actors took advantage of demonstrations against the death of George Floyd last week.
“Last night demonstrated that the Mayor has lost control of situation once and for all,” Rose wrote. “If we are going to enforce an 8:00 p.m. curfew tonight, then the National Guard must be deployed to assist with that and that alone.”
He added that most of the protesters in New York were peaceful but that certain elements of the crowd had taken advantage of the demonstrations to instigate pandemonium.
“The mayhem that occurred in parts of the city last night — the unprecedented looting and attacks on officers and bystanders — was not the work of peaceful protesters,” he said. “It was not part of the movement to ensure justice for George Floyd and victims of police brutality. And anyone who would say so is being dishonest at best.”
During the height of the coronavirus outbreak in New York, Rose was deployed as an operations officer to help combat a surge of infected patients.
De Blasio has sparred with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo over decisions regarding both the coronavirus and the protests. The pair agreed to institute an 11 p.m. curfew throughout the city Monday night, marking the first time in nearly a century that the measure has been used in New York City.
