After a Bronx judge found that NYPD officers’ claims that a man refused to take his hands out of his pockets during a search didn’t line up with evidence, New York Mayor Eric Adams is defending the officers in question.
Adams claimed he doesn’t believe officers should be “demonized,” per the New York Post, following their search and arrest of a 16-year-old rapper who has since been accused of allegedly shooting Officer Kaseem Pennant. Adams said officers arrested C-Blu, also known as Camrin Williams, after he they recognized him from a previous gun arrest, as reported by HipHopDX.
“I don’t believe those officers broke the law,” Adams, who has previously been outspoken against drill music, said. “We will never say breaking the law is a way of enforcing the law, but those officers that put their lives on the line to remove illegal guns off the street should not be demonized.”
Williams had his case transferred to family court after police recollections were deemed “unreliable” and “self-serving,” as Justice Naita Sema reportedly claimed the officers had no reason to search the teen. Williams was arrested on Jan. 18 after being accused of shooting himself and the leg of Pennant, who has since recovered from injuries, during the search.
“There was absolutely zero reason for any of those officers to approach this individual,” Semaj said, per the Post. “They approached him, they detained him, they searched him, and no officer even bothered to come up with a halfway legitimate reason for any of that.”
