Mayor-elect Eric Adams blamed “professional” anarchists for the rioting and vandalism in New York City following Kyle Rittenhouse’s acquittal Friday — insisting these groups infiltrate cities to “create violence.”
“They were all male, white, many of them are from outside the city or just recently moved here. I think there is an anarchist group in this city that’s attempted to create violence in cities and make it seem like it’s our neighbors doing it when it’s not,” Adams said Monday on Fox 5’s “Good Day New York.”
“These are professionals that are coming into our city causing this violence.”
As protests sprung up across the country and five boroughs on Friday evening, an angry mob descended on the usually quiet Middle Village, Queens, where many decked out in all-black allegedly tossed garbage cans at cops, ripped down American and “Blue Lives Matters” flags, and damaged mailboxes and cars, NYPD and sources previously told The Post.
Five were arrested and charged with rioting, one with criminal possession of a weapon and two of them were hit with criminal mischief, resisting arrest, obstructing government administration, reckless endangerment of property, and unlawful assembly charges, according to police.
Adams — who following the verdict urged protesters to act in a “peaceful” manner and called for stricter gun control laws — likened the incident in Queens to the violent mob that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6.
“If you go into a community where an elected official has a belief or opinion and you target his home, you go in with axes and dangerous weapons, that’s a real signal,” said Adams, referring to Councilman Robert Holden, a centrist, pro-cop Democrat who represents the neighborhood.
“That’s no different, to me, than what happened at our Capitol when they targeted Congresspeople,” the retired NYPD captain turned politician continued.
“We must take this threat seriously, what individuals from outside our city are attempting to do, and I’m really concerned about this.”
Adams’ Monday morning comments come after he denounced the chaotic demonstration on Saturday.
“It’s one thing to protest at any elected official’s office … but to come to a neighborhood and openly destroy property, be disruptive and throw objects at the residents of the neighborhood — that is unacceptable in our city,” he said during a press conference in the neighborhood alongside Holden.
Adams, currently the Brooklyn borough president, takes office on Jan. 1.
