NYPD Captain Benched on 911 Duty After Calling Mamdani ‘Expendable’

A New York Police Department captain was benched to 911 duty and his career hangs in the balance after a viral video of him calling New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani “an embarrassment and total nonsense” spread through social media following Saturday’s violent clash between protestors and the NYPD. In the video that circulated on X, a smiling Captain James G. Wilson calls Mr. Mamdani “total nonsense” and Democrats a “waste of human race” to a group of bystanders at a recent anti-immigration enforcement demonstration near Wyckoff Heights Medical Center at Bushwick.Protesters can be heard in the video asking Mr. Wilson for his opinion of Mr. Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist. “He’s temporary. He’s expendable,” Mr. Wilson replied.After a member of the group remarked that Mr. Mamdani is Mr. Wilson’s “boss,” the captain responded, “Not my boss.”“All Democrats, waste of human race,” Mr. Wilson said.A source familiar with the personnel situation told The New York Sun that the captain was transferred to the communications division that handles 911 calls.NYPD policy prohibits its members from endorsing political candidates or publicly expressing personal views “concerning the merits of any political party or political candidate for public office.”A retired NYPD lieutenant and podcast host, John D. Macari Jr., said Mr. Wilson’s “immediate punitive transfer” is evidence of an apparent double standard the department applies to its rank and file when it comes to policing speech. “Right-leaning statements made on duty are viewed as dissent and immediately crushed while left-leaning statements made on duty are encouraged as these officers are viewed as political ‘allies,’” Mr. Macari, host of the podcast New York’s Finest: Retired & Unfiltered, told the Sun. On X, Mr. Macari posted a video of former NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey discussing why he took a knee with protesters during a 2020 George Floyd protest at New York City. “The reason I took the knee was to start bringing about peace and unity and healing between members of the police department and members of the community,” Mr. Maddrey said in the video.“Numerous members of the NYPD, of all ranks, with left-leaning views were encouraged and applauded for making political statements on duty and faced zero discipline for doing so,” Mr. Macari told the Sun.Mr. Maddrey abruptly resigned from the NYPD in 2024 after a female lieutenant accused him of making lewd sexual remarks and requests. Another retired NYPD chief of the department, John Chell, told the Sun the rules are clear. “You can’t bad mouth the boss of the city like that,” he said. “Keep it to yourself.” Whether Mr. Wilson will appeal his reassignment is uncertain. Representatives of the city police’s Captains Endowment Association did not respond to phone calls from the Sun. Eight people were arrested for resisting arrest and reckless endangerment, among other charges, after a crowd of roughly 200 protesters gathered in front of Wyckoff Heights Medical Center, where ICE agents had taken a Nigerian immigrant, Chidozie Wilson Okeke, for medical treatment. Mr. Okeke had a prior arrest for assault and drug possession and had overstayed his tourist visa, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement. Mr. Okeke had been injured earlier during his arrest by ICE agents and requested treatment.Protesters threw garbage cans into the street in an attempt to prevent ICE from leaving with Mr. Okeke. In one video, an officer is seen grabbing a protester and throwing him to the ground, which Mr. Mamdani called “incredibly disturbing.”Officers were dispatched to the scene in response to 911 calls were told not to “participate or facilitate an ICE operation,” Mr. Mamdani confirmed at a press conference on Monday. Mr. Mamdani added that he did not see the video of Mr. Wilson speaking critically of him but promised to “follow up on that.”

NYPD Captain Benched on 911 Duty After Calling Mamdani ‘Expendable’

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