ERIC BLASTS VERDICT MAYHEM
Qns. protest mob ‘unacceptable’
Mayor-elect Eric Adams on Saturday condemned an angry mob protesting Kyle Rittenhouse’s acquittal for wreaking havoc on a sleepy middle-class Queens community.
“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,” Adams said at a news conference in Middle Village.
He was joined by Councilman Robert Holden, who represents the area, and other politicians in condemning Friday night’s mayhem in which about 40 mostly masked rabble-rousers terrorized the neighborhood by destroying cars, American flags and attacking a cop.
Five were arrested and charged with rioting. They were identified as Kyrk Freeman, 22, Daniel Wattley, 28, Alex Davis, 33, Charles Edmonds, 37, and Jonathan Lefkowitz, 38, who was also allegedly caught with a hatchet and hammer and faces an additional charge of criminal possession of a weapon.
Adams had called to arrange the news conference, according to Holden, offering a glimpse of how different his administration could be compared with Mayor de Blasio’s.
Holden, a moderate Democrat, is routinely at odds with the farleft-leaning de Blasio and is one of his toughest critics.
The councilman accused him Friday of adding “gasoline to the fire” by tweeting, “We can’t let this go,” in response to the Rittenhouse acquittal.
“This guy has turned his back on white, middle-class neighborhoods throughout the city,” Holden told The Post. “To have Eric Adams come out here before he’s even in office and show he has our backs is very refreshing.”
The mayor-elect refused to say if he believes de Blasio incited any riots.
“I believe the real crisis is that a 17-year-old was legally able to carry a gun,” said Adams, the Brooklyn borough president and a retired NYPD captain. “This is not about Mayor de Blasio. This is about the future of our city, and that is my primary focus.”
Earlier Saturday, Adams put out a statement with Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and city Comptroller-elect Brad Lander demanding stronger gun laws nationwide.
“The Rittenhouse ruling should be the last horrifying piece of evidence we need to reverse dangerous gun laws in America and reject the culture of hate and bias that leads to violence,” the statement said.
“Whether it’s in southern Wisconsin or East New York, guns sold in one state are used to create death and mayhem on the streets of another every day.”
During the Middle Village mayhem, protesters were trailed by cops as they made their way through the neighborhood, many wearing all black with their faces covered, in the style of “black bloc” anarchists known for destroying property at protests, according to police sources.
The group allegedly tossed garbage cans at cops, ripped American and “Blue Lives Matters” flags from homes, damaged mailboxes and cars, NYPD officials and sources said.
The sources said an officer saw Freeman point to a silver Chevrolet sedan, which Edmonds allegedly jumped on, shattering its front windshield.
Police alleged that as Edmonds was being taken into custody, Freeman jumped on the arresting officer’s back before resisting arrest himself.
Edmonds’ father, Bruce, 73, said his son is a Rutgers University grad and middle-school teacher in Freehold, NJ, and has a history of going to protests.
He is “a good guy, passionate,” the father said.
The dad said he wasn’t surprised that his son was arrested and asked, “Is he all right?”
A man told cops he had earlier witnessed Freeman spray-paint “f--k you” on his white SUV and cover the car’s pro-police “Thin Blue Line” sticker with black
paint, sources said. The damages totaled over $4,000.
Freeman had a can of spray paint, police said. He and Edmonds have been charged with rioting, criminal mischief, resisting arrest, obstructing government administration, reckless endangerment of property, unlawful assembly and a traffic violation for walking in the street.
Freeman, also charged with making graffiti in Friday’s unrest, was arrested in September for allegedly vandalizing a pillar at the Myrtle Avenue subway stop in Brooklyn, the sources said.
Lefkowitz faces charges of rioting in the first degree, unlawful assembly, obstructing governmental administration, weapon possession and walking in the roadway. Wattley and Davis were charged with rioting in the first degree, unlawful assembly, obstructing governmental administration and walking in a roadway.
All five were released pending future court dates, cops said.