By: Marc Black, Detective NYPD-Ret; J. Lawrence Cunningham, USSS-Ret
The active shooter incident in Midtown Manhattan on July 29, 2025 by Shane Tamura has put a magnifying glass on Mamdani’s defund the police policy and, at a broader level, the continuing erosion of support for law enforcement in America. Since George Floyd’s death after his arrest on May 26, 2020 in Minneapolis, MN, the nation’s far left leaders used his death to supercharge their historical narrative of police brutality and law enforcement is inherently racist. They are committed to use this as one of their political tools. Many left wing politicians have seized on this as an opportunity to advocate and in some instances, condone the anti-police movement. Worse, law enforcement has been defunded, vilified and forced to work with fewer resources. Unfortunately, violent demonstrations in many major cities amounting to billions of dollars in damage have resulted.
With this backdrop, law enforcement at both the local and federal levels struggle for support from law makers and the public. The men and women in BLUE in this country are now forced to justify their once lauded public service as a vital pillar of the nation’s communities against the left’s misplaced and short-sighted ideology seeking to placate an uneducated constituency.
This recent active shooter incident in New York City, once again, brings light to the critical importance of a fully supporting the men and women of the New York City Police Department. Despite Trump’s re-election and the GOP taking the House and Senate, the anti-police and anti-ICE headwinds remain strong.
Democrat nominee for New York City Mayor, Zohran Mamdani’s policy of defunding the NYPD and reducing its ranks is not just misguided, it’s reckless. In fact, it’s such a bad idea that even the NYC Sanitation Department would toss it out with trash. Where is the common sense in stripping away the very institution responsible for maintaining public safety and supporting those officers working the streets?
Policing is inherently local. In a city as complex and vibrant as New York, the NYPD is the backbone of our quality of life, economic vitality, and community stability. Without it, the city risks descending into chaos. Mamdani wants social workers to fill the NYPD. Social workers have a vital role, but they are not equipped to respond to active shooter situations or violent crimes. Expecting them to replace trained officers in high-risk scenarios is not just unrealistic, it’s dangerous. Mamdani wants to do away with Strategic Response Group (SRG), the very unit that responded to the active shooter incident. SRG specializes in civil unrest, riot/protest control, active shooter among other policing duties. Why is Mamdani so against SRG? Is it because these police are trained in the use of long guns? Wear protective gear on their person that is used to protect them against criminals that use guns against police? Doesn’t Mamdani realize that SRG units and patrol officers tend to be younger in time on the job and eventually end up as detectives in a numbered squad, Special Victims Unit, Homicide, etc.
These policies, rooted in ideological extremism, ignore the reality of life on the streets. Criminals don’t care about laws or consequences. They prey on the vulnerable. Weakening the NYPD only emboldens them. Mamdani’s approach would continue to turn New Yorkers into prey, leaving them defenseless in the face of rising violence. Mamdani speaks about utopia, just as Karl Marx spoke and wrote about the state being equal for all. Except the perpetrators are not equal and deserve their due in the justice system.
Let’s be clear: elections have consequences. If voters continue to support candidates who push anti-police agendas, they must also accept the outcomes—more crime, less safety, and a diminished quality of life. Just look at the results in districts like AOC’s in Queens. Are these policies truly working for the people on the ground?
It’s time for common sense to prevail. New York City needs strong, courageous officers, not fewer of them. It’s the voter’s responsibility and accountability to demand and support the men and women in BLUE. Politicians are sound bites and appeasers to either gain or retain power. Mamdani is neither a politician nor a person for the people. His policies speak for themselves.
The deeper problem with the Mamdani movement is the left’s leaders are strategizing ways to leverage his momentum to regain power—not only in New York but in other blue sates and beyond. This urgent threat is not confined to New York--look at Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Marc Black is a Senior Law Enforcement Fellow at the Gold Institute for International Strategy. He is a retired Detective Investigator from the New York City Police Department (NYPD), where he built a distinguished career spanning counterterrorism, arson and explosion investigations, computer crimes, and intelligence.
J. Lawrence Cunningham is a Senior Fellow at the Gold Institute for International Strategy. He is a retired United States Secret Service Agent, where his 20-year career encompassed supervisory roles in all aspects of Secret Service jurisdiction.
