Enraged, Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday donated $5,000 of his own money to a reward for information leading to the capture of the anti-Israel “scumbag” who defaced a local war memorial.
“Despite the unpopular concept, I’m going to say, ‘I love America,'” Adams said at a news conference in front of the World War I Memorial in historic Central Park. Told. The night before he put up anti-Israel stickers.
“We cannot remain silent when symbols of our freedom are desecrated by individuals who clearly hate our country and our way of life,” he said. “We are not going to be silent, because our silence gives us the belief that everything is okay.
“The same rights they are demanding, they are desecrating the lives of those who have been fighting for them,” he said of the protesters. “I want to show all New Yorkers that our city will not tolerate chaos or disorder.
“I’m not just going to put my money where my mouth is. I’m going to put my money where my heart is.”
the mayor said: was donating cash In honor of 19-year-old “Uncle Joe” who died in the Vietnam War.
This funding was added to $10,000 from Crime Stoppers for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those behind the heinous acts of vandalism, including the burning of the American flag, for a total of $15,000.
The mayor, surrounded by several senior police officers and city commissioners, said that leaflets with images of criminals who were taking part in large-scale violent demonstrations against Israel’s war in Gaza were being distributed in the area. Stated.
The mob targeted the 107th Infantry Memorial and another Civil War-era statue in the park, as they were cut off by police before arriving at the nearby Metropolitan Museum of Art and disrupting the star-studded Met Gala being held there. Established. Park staff removed the graffiti on Tuesday.
Zach Iskol, a former Marine, Iraq war veteran and current city emergency management commissioner, took his son to Normandy, France, last year to commemorate the 79th anniversary of the World War II beach attack. He spoke movingly about what he had done.
Iscol said he printed out some of the names of young men who died in World War I on his way to Tuesday’s press conference.
“I thought about my battalion. … We lost 33 Marines in combat and 576 Marines, more than half the battalion, were wounded. … What do we owe them? “I’m thinking about whether there is,” he said.
Lt. Col. James Hendon, director of the city’s Department of Veterans Affairs, added, “The irony and heartbreak is that every person who sacrificed and died was in defense of the rights and freedoms of the very people who burned this flag. It means that you will become a victim and die again.” This monument was destroyed. ”
Additional reporting by Tina Moore and Craig McCarthy
