New York City Mayor Eric Adams was baptized in prison by the Rev. Al Sharpton in commemoration of Good Friday and participated in a religious ceremony with a group of men incarcerated at the troubled Rikers Island prison.
The ceremony was part of a visit to the prison facility where Adams was scheduled to meet with detainees on the Christian holiday.
Mayor Adams’ ‘Breakfast Club’ interview heats up over slain NYPD officer: ‘Far left’ disagrees with me
“By being arrested and elected mayor, I reminded young people that where they belong is not where they belong,” Adams, a Democrat, said in a statement. “For the first time in their lives, the mayor did not disrespect them. I sat alongside them, cleansed and recommitted to the right path.”
In this photo provided by the New York City Mayor’s Office, Mayor Eric Adams (second from right) reclines during a visit to New York’s Rikers Island prison on Friday as he participates in a baptismal ceremony with the Rev. Al Sharpton (right). ing. , March 29, 2024. (Ed Reed/Mayor’s Photo Office, via AP)
Images from the event provided by the mayor’s office show Mr. Adams and Mr. Sharpton joining hands during prayer, the pastor washing Mr. Adams’ feet, and Mr. Adams being baptized. .
Mr. Adams and the civil rights leader have had close ties throughout his long tenure in New York politics. Adams frequently appears on Sharpton’s satellite radio show, and the two have appeared together at City Hall events.
The municipal jail, plagued by violence and neglect, is the subject of an ongoing legal battle that could lead to the facility being taken over by the federal government.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The mayor visited Rikers earlier this week and met with detainees. Adams said in an interview this week on the New York City radio show “The Breakfast Club” that he met “a group of 12 young brothers who have rededicated themselves to Christ.”
“I’ve been on Rikers Island more times than any other mayor in the history of Rikers Island, talking to inmates and correctional officers to try to turn things around on Rikers Island,” Adams said on Friday’s broadcast. He spoke in an enthusiastic radio interview.
