According to the New York Post, attacks against New York Police Department (NYPD) officers have gone up 3% in the first two months of Zohran Mamdani entering office. Since January 1, there have been 253 assaults against NYPD officers — one of the most recent being in Washington Square Park last Monday.
Several officers were attacked with snowballs while responding to a disorderly call in the park. Reuters reports that no arrests have been made even though two officers were taken to the hospital with lacerations on their face and neck.
Videos regarding the incident were posted to social media. Police Commissioner Jessica Tisc and Mamdani have been at odds regarding the content within and how to move forward. Tisc claimed the video showed “criminal assault on uniformed officers,” while Mamdani said he only saw “kids at a snowball fight."
Despite this, there are still some who care and respect police officers, sympathetic to the antagonism toward them.
Randy Sutton is a retired Las Vegas police lieutenant and founder of The Wounded Blue. Sutton told AFN that he's heard stories from cops about citizens showing love to the men and women in uniform.
"For instance, I've been hearing that many officers, when they go in for lunch or a cup of coffee, a stranger picks up the tab and just says, 'Hey, I just want you to know how much I appreciate you’,” says Sutton. "This means a great deal to our officers."
Sutton said that even a “thank you” goes a long way.
The Wounded Blue does its part as well. They are the only national organization that is dedicated and designed to support law enforcement officers who are injured or disabled in the line of duty. The organization helps whether the problem is physical, mental or emotional as they try to ensure that wounded officers are “Never Forgotten, Never Alone.”
"We have helped more than 17,000 officers injured in the line of duty in the last 7 years," said Sutton. "Go to thewoundedblue.org, see who we are, see what we do, and support these men and women."
