Stefanik Slams Hochul and Mamdani Over Anti-Police Appointments

New York is spiraling and the Left is holding the wheel.

In yet another example of how far the Democrat Party has strayed from law and order, far-left Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is appointing radical anti-police activists to shape his administration with the full backing of Gov. Kathy Hochul.

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) is demanding answers after Mamdani placed Alex Vitale, a notorious anti-police academic, on his “community safety” committee. Vitale, author of The End of Policing, has openly advocated for defunding and abolishing law enforcement, and has smeared police officers and their unions as racially driven institutions of oppression.

“Kathy Hochul must condemn Zohran Mamdani’s appointment of Alex Vitale... Vitale is a radical police abolitionist who will destroy New York if he gets his way,” Stefanik said.

But Hochul has remained silent despite having endorsed Mamdani during his campaign and previously claiming he was committed to public safety.

Let’s be clear about what’s at stake:

• Vitale believes modern policing must be dismantled and replaced with community “empowerment” programs, essentially decriminalizing crimes like prostitution and drug trafficking.

• He has called policing a legacy of “slavery” and “colonialism” and declared police unions a hub of “deep racism.”

• Mamdani himself has called the NYPD “racist” and “a threat to public safety,” and repeatedly called for the department to be defunded and dismantled.

It gets worse.

Mamdani has also appointed Lumumba Bandele, a black nationalist who previously aligned with members of the Black Liberation Army a domestic terrorist group responsible for the cold-blooded murders of police officers in New York and New Jersey. This man will now serve on Mamdani’s Community Organizing committee.

Stefanik didn’t hold back. “Mamdani’s vision for New York is getting very clear and it’s starting to look like a nightmare. Kathy Hochul must immediately call on Mamdani to fire Lumumba Bandele.”

Instead of empowering NYPD officers to clean up our streets and protect working families, Mamdani and his allies are elevating people who sympathize with cop-killers and want to tear down every structure of law enforcement. And Hochul, the governor of the state, is enabling it all.

This isn’t just political negligence it’s dangerous.

The people of New York are already suffering the consequences of progressive “justice” experiments:

• NYPD has reported a 29% rise in felony assault over the past two years.

• Bail reform has released thousands of violent offenders back onto city streets.

• Over 350 NYPD officers have resigned in 2024 alone, many citing the hostile political climate.

We’ve seen this movie before Seattle, Portland, San Francisco. Now, the far-left wants to drag New York down that same road. But Elise Stefanik is right to shine a spotlight on the rot before it spreads further.

When you endorse radicals, you empower radicals. And Kathy Hochul owes the people of New York an explanation.

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