Last week two young NYPD officers were shot while responding to a domestic disturbance call in Harlem. A woman had called about a dispute with her adult son. As the officers headed down a narrow hallway to talk to the 47-year-old man, he burst out of his room and started firing. One of the officers, 22-year-old Jason Rivera, died from his injuries that night. The second officer, 27-year-old Wilbert Mora, made it to a local hospital but finally succumbed to his injuries yesterday. After his death, his family announced he had donated his organs to help others:
In announcing Officer Mora’s death on Tuesday, the police described his family’s decision to donate his organs for transplant as a final act of service.
Leonard Achan, the president of LiveOnNY, the designated organ procurement agency for the New York metro area, said Officer Mora’s family “are huge supporters of organ donation, they wanted to make sure that their son’s legacy, brother’s legacy as well, would be that he saved lives in his death as well as in his life.”
But as it happens the newly elected City Councilwoman who represents the neighborhood where the two officers were killed is a socialist DSA member and also a big supporter of abolishing the police department. Here’s a sample of some of Kristin Richardson Jordan’s tweets about the NYPD prior to the shooting last week.
When I call for abolition I mean it.
We must move towards a world without cops.
Read my full platform at https://t.co/nUcDA9lvfG #abolishthepolice #abolitionnow #wecantwait #nojusticenopeace #blacklivesmatter #radicallove #disrupthedistrict pic.twitter.com/TzlWsdkXuA
— Kristin Richardson Jordan (KRJ) NY City Council 9 (@Kristin4Harlem) June 3, 2021
This campaign is 100% grassroots and people-powered. We are here because of the hundreds of volunteers who believed in our vision of a world without cops and jails, a world where everyone is guaranteed housing, a job that pays a living wage, free meals and public transportation.
— Kristin Richardson Jordan (KRJ) NY City Council 9 (@Kristin4Harlem) July 6, 2021
She considers herself a revolutionary poet:
“Recognize these stations
where violence and lies dwell
we know Sandra didn’t hang herself
inside that cell” – KRJFrom the novel “Mules Fight Back” by KRJ
We are fighting for a world without cops and jails. #AbolitionNow pic.twitter.com/e9p9ljRBYd
— Kristin Richardson Jordan (KRJ) NY City Council 9 (@Kristin4Harlem) July 16, 2021
And naturally is not a fan of Eric Adams.
I'm asking progressives and socialists to stop cozying up to Adams. Are we going to ignore the fact that he's a former NYPD captain who promised to bring back stop & frisk through a plainclothes unit? If you believe that #BlackLivesMatter than you know this a huge step backwards.
— Kristin Richardson Jordan (KRJ) NY City Council 9 (@Kristin4Harlem) November 19, 2021
Earlier this month she called the NYPD a gang.
NYPD is still the biggest gang in New York City
— Kristin Richardson Jordan (KRJ) NY City Council 9 (@Kristin4Harlem) January 2, 2022
Needless to say, the outpouring of support for police in the wake of two officers being gunned down in the line of duty has created an awkward moment for Kristin Richardson Jordan. She initially didn’t react to the deaths at all on Twitter. Instead a pre-planned tweet about community gardens went up on her account. Hours later she finally said something about the shooting which melded support for the families with a defense of police abolition:
I am saddened; a loss of one is a loss to the whole, as it creates ripples and ripples of pain. I stand with the families of the fallen. To be clear, the death of police officers is not what abolition is. Abolition is an end to violence altogether.
— Kristin Richardson Jordan (KRJ) NY City Council 9 (@Kristin4Harlem) January 22, 2022
Yesterday, after officer Mora’s death, she once again decided to split the difference by mourning the deaths of the two officers and the man who shot them, Lashawn McNeil.
My deepest condolences to the families of Officer Rivera, Officer Mora and Lashawn McNeil. Lives lost due to broken public safety & mental health systems that spare nobody. Harlem stands with the families of the fallen and we will not stop fighting for a safer world for all.
— Kristin Richardson Jordan (KRJ) NY City Council 9 (@Kristin4Harlem) January 25, 2022
The NY Times reported today that Richardson Jordan’s contributions have gone almost unnoticed, even within her own socialist circles.
Ms. Jordan identifies as a Black socialist, though groups like the Democratic Socialists of America and the left-wing Working Families Party made no endorsement in her primary.
Other prominent left-wing organizations, including the political group associated with Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, did offer support, though to date Ms. Jordan is not considered a prominent member of the city’s left wing — she is largely unknown even to like-minded officials.
In the ranked-choice primary election, she ultimately prevailed over the incumbent by around 100 votes.
Asked to assess her performance so far in office, Keith L.T. Wright, the chairman of the Manhattan Democratic Party, replied, “I’ve never had a conversation with her, and I don’t know what she does.”…
Since the shooting, Ms. Jordan contacted the families of both the officers and of Mr. McNeil, though as of Tuesday she had not connected with them.
It sounds like everyone, with the exception of AOC, is choosing to ignore her. Maybe that’s for the best. Despite the NY Times effort to soft-pedal her extremism, many readers aren’t buying it. Here’s the top comment on the story.
She has deep compassion for McNeil? Wow, what kind of ‘both sides’ nonsense is that? The guy was threatening his own mother and brother with violence, and came out from his barricaded room in a blaze of gunfire. Meanwhile, two young men trying to do their job are dead. RIP Jason Rivera and Wilbert Mora.
The #2 comment from a reader in New York:
The most striking thing about this article is how disconnected this city council member is from the needs and wants of her constituents. It seems to me that she is more focused on advancing herself and her own agenda than serving those whom she represents.
From a reader in Manhattan:
Why does the headline try to make it sound like she is the real victim here?
RIP to those two brave NYPD officers. I want every police officer in the city to know that the vast majority of New Yorkers respect and appreciate everything they do. Do not listen to the vocal “woke” crowd, as they do not represent us.
From Brooklyn:
Councilwoman Kristin Richardson Jordan could take one action that would contribute much to betterment of New York City in general and to the community she represents in particular. She could resign, and then become the “revolutionary activist and poet” she so dearly wants to be. Paralleling the deaths of Officers Rivera and Mora with that of their murderer Mr. McNeil is horrendous.
Several of the comments point out that this is not a good direction for Democrats.
Ms. Jordan is a prime example of why we are going to experience a huge political backlash against the “woke” agenda this November. On both the Federal and State levels you are going to see a massive Republican landslide. Not so much because voters agree with their agenda — but because they are so fed up with that of the “woke left”. I am a life-long Democrat (I’m 70). I have never voted Republican and won’t do so this November. But this year may well be the first year I just don’t bother to vote at all. It’s coming. And when it does, you can look to Ms. Jordan for one reason why.
He’s absolutely right. Democrats are going to take a beating in November and it will partly be because of ideologues like Kristin Richardson Jordan who consistently promote fringe ideas, like police abolition, that aren’t supported by the public.
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