Mayor Bill de Blasio:
We’ve just come from a meeting of clergy, and elected officials, and
community leaders here in Staten Island. And there’s a lot of pain and
frustration in the room this evening.
And, at the same time, a lot
of purposefulness. Everyone here, having spent so much of their lives
trying to address some of the divisions that afflict us – in particular,
our brothers and sisters who are members
of the clergy, having devoted themselves to comforting and supporting
people in all sorts of situations. Yet, tonight, there was a particular
sense of challenge, and of pain.
I want to thank everyone who
gathered together, in common purpose. I want to thank Bishop Brown for
hosting us, for his leadership. I want to thank Speaker Melissa
Mark-Viverito and Public Advocate Tish James. I want
to thank Borough President Jimmy Oddo. I want to offer a special thank
you to Council Member Debi Rose, who has been in the center of so much
of what’s happened in these last months, to help people understand what
we have to do together to move forward, but
also to listen, and absorb the pain and the frustration so many people
have faced. I know it has not been easy, council member, but I want to
thank you for your profound leadership.
And to so many of the clergy
that you worked with, who have been such important partners in
reminding people we have to find a way forward. And we have to find a
way forward together, by definition.
It’s a very emotional day
for our city. It’s a very painful day for so many New Yorkers. That is
the core reality. So many people in this city are feeling pain right
now. And we’re grieving, again, over the loss of
Eric Garner, who was a father, a husband, a son, a good man – a man who
should be with us, and isn’t. That pain, that simple fact, is felt
again so sharply today.
I spent some time with Ben
Garner, Eric’s father, who is in unspeakable pain. And it’s a very hard
thing to spend time trying to comfort someone you know is beyond the
reach of comfort because of what he’s been through.
I can only imagine. I couldn’t help but immediately think what it would
mean to me to lose Dante. Life could never be the same thereafter, and I
could feel how it will never be whole again – things will never be
whole again for Mr. Garner. And even in the
midst of his pain, one of the things he stopped and said so squarely
was, there can’t be violence. He said Eric would not have wanted
violence, violence won’t get us anywhere. He was so sharp and clear in
his desire, despite his pain. I found it noble. I could
only imagine what it took for him to summon that. No family should have
to go through what the Garner family went through.
And the tragedy is personal
to this family, but it’s become something personal to so many of us.
It’s put in stark perspective the relationship between police and
community. This issue has come to the fore again,
and we have to address them with all our might. We can’t stop. We have
to act, with the assumption that it’s all of our jobs to never have a
tragedy again – that’s what we have to fight for.
This is profoundly personal
for me. I was at the White House the other day, and the President of the
United States turned to me, and he met Dante a few months ago, and he
said that Dante reminded him of what he looked
like as a teenager. And he said, I know you see this crisis through a
very personal lens. I said to him I did. Because Chirlane and I have had
to talk to Dante for years, about the dangers he may face. A good young
man, a law-abiding young man, who would never
think to do anything wrong, and yet, because of a history that still
hangs over us, the dangers he may face – we’ve had to literally train
him, as families have all over this city for decades, in how to take
special care in any encounter he has with the police
officers who are there to protect him.
And that painful sense of
contradiction that our young people see first – that our police are here
to protect us, and we honor that, and at the same time, there’s a
history we have to overcome, because for so many
of our young people, there’s a fear. And for so many of our families,
there’s a fear. So I’ve had to worry, over the years, Chirlane’s had to
worry – was Dante safe each night? There are so many families in this
city who feel that each and every night – is
my child safe? And not just from some of the painful realities – crime
and violence in some of our neighborhoods – but are they safe from the
very people they want to have faith in as their protectors? That’s the
reality. And it conforms to something bigger
that you’ve heard come out in the protests in Ferguson, and all over
the country.
This is now a national
moment of grief, a national moment of pain, and searching for a
solution, and you’ve heard in so many places, people of all backgrounds,
utter the same basic phrase. They’ve said “Black Lives
Matter.” And they said it because it had to be said. It’s a phrase that
should never have to be said – it should be self-evident. But our
history, sadly, requires us to say that Black Lives Matter. Because, as I
said the other day, we’re not just dealing with
a problem in 2014, we’re not dealing with years of racism leading up to
it, or decades of racism – we are dealing with centuries of racism that
have brought us to this day. That is how profound the crisis is. And
that is how fundamental the task at hand is,
to turn from that history and to make a change that is profound and
lasting.
In the here and now, so many
New Yorkers will ask the question, what will happen next? They’ll ask,
will there be a full airing of these facts? Will there be some
investigation that means something to them? And I
think the truth is important here.
One chapter has closed, with
the decision of this grand jury. There are more chapters ahead. The
police department will initiate now its own investigation, and make its
own decisions about the administrative actions
it can take. The federal government is clearly engaged and poised to
act. Just before the meeting began with the leaders here on Staten
Island, I received a phone call from the United States Attorney General
Eric Holder, and from U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch.
They made clear that the investigation initiated by the U.S. Attorney
would now move forward, that it would be done expeditiously, that it
would be done with a clear sense of independence, and that it would be a
thorough investigation. It was a palpable sense
of resolve – the federal government will exercise its responsibilities
here, and do a full and thorough investigation, and draw conclusions
accordingly.
We’ve experienced one
challenge after another in these last weeks. The events of Ferguson may
have most sharply framed this discussion nationally. For all of us here,
what's happened in our own community is what we
feel most deeply. It was hard for any one of us, as a human being, and
particularly any of us who is a parent, to not be deeply pained by the
death of Tamir Rice in Cleveland – a 12-year-old boy – something that's
very, very hard to fathom. And
all of these pains add up and demand of us
action. It is powerful, even in the midst of the pain, that our
President is acting. It is powerful that our President is focusing on
changing our approach to policing, to focus on community
policing, focus on the value of body cameras as a new tool for
accountability and transparency. It's powerful that our Attorney General
is focused.
These
things will matter. These things will lead to change. Here in this
city, change is happening. Even in this moment, people are feeling pain
and frustration
and confusion. Change is happening right now and I said in the meeting
change is happening because the people willed it to happen. We're
leaders, we all strive to serve and help our people, but the people
willed this change to happen. The people believed the
broken policy of stop and frisk had to end and it has ended. The people
believed there were too many young people of color arrested and saddled
with a record for the rest of their lives simply for the possession of a
small amount of marijuana and that policy
has been changed. The people demanded something different. It's my
responsibility and responsibility to everyone standing here with me to
achieve that on behalf of the people.
When
I named Commissioner Bratton as our Police Commissioner, I knew him to
be – I knew it at the time and I've seen it even more since – I knew him
to
be one of the greatest reformers and change agents in policing in the
history of this country. I have seen that ability and those values play
out each and every day.
I
saw it today at the New York City Police Department Academy where not
only did we talk about what body cameras will mean in terms of changing
the relationship
between the police and community, we talked about the re-training of
the entire police force, something that has never been done in this city
before. We talked about helping our officers understand the different
ways to diffuse confrontations. We talked about
bringing our officers closer to the community from the point of their
training, from the first moments of their experience as law enforcement
officers, emphasizing the partnership they needed with the community.
And I
remind you, my faith in Commissioner Bratton is based on the actions he
has taken over decades and it is also based on the clarity of his
message
to all of us. He gathered his top commanders a few weeks ago. It was
well-reported. He said very publicly, the department will act
aggressively to ensure any officer who is not meant to be in this work
no longer is. He talked about those who don't live up
to the values of the uniform, who have "brutal", who are “corrupt”, who
are “racist”, who are “incompetent”. This was our police commissioner
making clear his standard that people who sadly fit those descriptions
would not be members of the NYPD.
These
changes will matter. They will affect millions of people. They will
take time, but that is not in any way an excuse or an unwillingness on
our part
to do anything but the fastest change we can. It's an honest leveling
with our people that not every change can happen overnight, but they're
happening resolutely and forcefully, more happening every day. Each
change builds upon the next. There is a momentum
for change that will be felt in every neighborhood in this city.
And,
again, it doesn't come first and foremost, from City Hall, or from One
Police Plaza, it comes from the people of this city who have demanded
it. This
change is about the values of our people, the will of our people, the
goodness of our people. That's where change comes from. And everyone has
an opportunity to play a role in that change by continuing to work for
it. And that is across every community.
I
have to emphasize, and we've seen this all over the country, but I know
it's true here, and I have an experience from last year that I think is
evidence.
This is not just a demand coming from the African American community.
It's not just a demand coming from the Latino community. It's coming
from every community. It's coming from people from all faiths who want a
city of fairness, who want violence to end,
who want no family to go through the tragedy the Garners did.
So,
people will express themselves now, as they should in a democracy. I ask
everyone to listen to what Ben Garner said and what Eric Garner's son
said
as well – if you really want a dignified life of Eric Garner, you will
do so through peaceful protest. You will work relentlessly for change.
You will not sully his name with violence or vandalism. That doesn't
bring us closer to a better community. The only
thing that has ever worked is peaceful protest. Non-violent social
activism is the only thing that has ever worked.
And
the Garner family has made the abundantly clear. Michael Brown's family
made that abundantly clear. People should listen to those we say we
stand in
solidarity with, fulfill their wishes and work for change the right
way.
I'll just finish with a couple more points and then I want to say something in Spanish before I depart.
So
many of us steeped in the teachings of Dr. King, there are many great
leaders, but perhaps no one more definitional in the work of social
change and
the work of justice than Dr. King and he said something so fundamental
that should remind us how we need to handle this moment. He said,
"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." This is a
problem for all New Yorkers. This is a problem for all
Americans. It has to be treated as such.
Anyone
who says to you this is a problem only felt by people of color or only
pertinent to young people and this is what's going on here. It's all our
problem
– and anyone who believes in the values of this country should feel
called to action right now. Anyone who cares about justice, that
American value of justice, should understand it is a moment that change
must happen. Change is as good as the people that we
represent.
We
have a lot of work to do together. I want to thank all of my colleagues
who have been working so hard here in the neighborhoods of Staten Island
and
so many all over the city. Their work matters. Their work is being
felt. It will continue to be felt as we continue the work of change and
reform. I want to thank again Bishop Brown for bringing us together. I
want to thank all of the leaders here today. I'll
turn to Bishop Brown and Speaker Mark-Viverito and Public Advocate
James and they'll continue talking to you.
I
want to thank you, everyone, for this chance to talk about this moment
that we're all facing together. And we will address our problems in this
city together.
Thank you.
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