A Brooklyn man was arrested after police said he threatened to burn down New York City’s diamond district if government leaders did not meet with protesters during a Fox News interview over the weekend.
Israel “Ace” Burns, 34, was charged with one count of making terroristic threats, one count of aggravated harassment, and one count of false reporting, the New York Police Department said, according to Fox News. He was at central booking and had not been released as of Sunday evening.
Burns, who identified himself as a protest leader, told Fox News reporter Jacqui Heinrich on Saturday that he was demanding New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo meet with protesters.
“Today, I’m leading a demonstration from Barclay’s Center at 6 p.m. to City Hall, and that’s the first stop — and we’re hoping de Blasio and Cuomo come out and talk to us and give the youth some direction,” Burns said to Fox News reporter Jacqui Heinrich on Saturday.
“But if they don’t, then [the] next stop is the diamond district. And gasoline, thanks to Trump, is awfully cheap. So, we’re giving them a chance right now to do the right thing,” he added.
America’s News HQ anchor Eric Shawn immediately condemned the statement from Burns.
“Those are outrageous words to say,” he said. “Basically that person was basically suggesting that they plan to go to the Diamond District, which is run basically by Orthodox Jews here in New York City — certainly hope that is not the case and we do not endorse — in fact, we condemn that type of language here on the FOX News Channel. Someone saying that certainly should be called out in terms of any type of potential threat of any sort that we just heard live from someone who was interviewed here on this channel.”
Protests have popped up across the country over the last two weeks following the death of George Floyd. Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died on Memorial Day after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes despite his pleas for air.
The officer who pressed a knee to Floyd’s neck, Derek Chauvin, was fired from the department and has been charged with second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. The three other officers who were involved in detaining Floyd, who was suspected of using a counterfeit $20 bill, were also fired and charged with aiding and abetting murder.
