When the mayor of New York got word that there was a large gathering at a Jewish funeral in Brooklyn yesterday (April 28), it highly upset him.
De Blasio was so frustrated, he went to the location to see for himself alongside NYPD. Our very own Street Soldiers host/Fox 5 newscaster, Lisa Evers, reported, De Blasio personally went to Brooklyn to disperse a “huge, tightly packed crowd of Hasidic Jewish mourners. They were in streets for funeral of a Hasidic rabbi who died from #Covid-19.”
In a Tweet, de Blasio said, “When I heard, I went there myself to ensure the crowd was dispersed. And what I saw WILL NOT be tolerated so long as we are fighting the Coronavirus.” (See Tweet here.)
The mayor went on to send a clear and direct message to the Jewish community in the next Twitter post.
“My message to the Jewish community, and all communities, is this simple: the time for warnings has passed. I have instructed the NYPD to proceed immediately to summons or even arrest those who gather in large groups. This is about stopping this disease and saving lives. Period.” (See Tweet here.)
Some found the mayor’s statement offensive. De Blasio responded during a brief this morning, (April 29), and said,
“I regret if the way I said it in any way gave people a feeling of being treated the wrong way, that was not my intention.”
He went on to say that he said his remarks were out of tough love. In addition, he said, “I also will not tolerate any anti-Semitism ever. And for decades I’ve made it my business to stand up for the Jewish community, and people know that.”
Take a look: