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You are here: Home / Politics / Republican Venality / “Those Who Will Not Learn From History… “

“Those Who Will Not Learn From History… “

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From the NYTimes archives:

September 17, 1992 — Thousands of off-duty police officers thronged around City Hall yesterday, swarming through police barricades to rally on the steps of the hall and blocking traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge for nearly an hour in the most unruly and angry police demonstration in recent memory.

The 300 uniformed officers who were supposed to control the crowd did little or nothing to stop the protesters from jumping barricades, tramping on automobiles, mobbing the steps of City Hall or taking over the bridge. In some cases, the on-duty officers encouraged the protesters.

While the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association had called the rally to protest Mayor David N. Dinkins’s proposal to create an independent civilian agency that would look into police misconduct, the huge turnout — estimated by the Police Department at 10,000 protesters — and the harsh emotional pitch reflected widespread anger among rank-and-file officers toward the Mayor for his handling of riots against the police in Washington Heights last July, his refusal to give them semiautomatic weapons and his appointment of an outside panel to investigate corruption…

Mayor Dinkins, who was not at City Hall during the demonstration, denounced the protest as “bordering on hooliganism” and said he held the P.B.A. president, Phil Caruso, responsible for what happened. He accused Mr. Caruso of inciting his members’ passions and suggested the union leader was motivated in part by contract negotiations.

The Mayor also assailed Rudolph W. Giuliani, the probable Republican mayoral candidate, who spoke out against the Mayor at the union rally. Mr. Dinkins said Mr. Giuliani had egged on the protest irresponsibly for political reasons. “He’s clearly, clearly an opportunist,” Mr. Dinkins said. “He’s seizing upon a fragile circumstance in our city for his own political gain.” …

Hey, from Guiliani’s perspective, the riot worked.

Reader Interactions

93Comments

  2. 2.

    ruemara

    I watched white cops burn this genteel, milquetoast, barely tan first Black Mayor of NYC in effigy. I heard them using slurs and acting like dangerous animals. And Rudy Giuliani grinning, nodding and booking when it really restarted to get out of hand. I wasn’t even 16 and the fact that cops could be like this flew in the face of all I believed. I have never, ever been able to look at Giuliani without thinking of that day. Sometimes, I think why Rudy ever became mayor was the hope for some white people that he would help the police keep browns in their place.

  4. 4.

    Judge Crater

    People have forgotten the heavy-handed tactics of Giuliani – he made life hell for many New Yorkers. I remember he had the cops confiscate the cars of poor people who couldn’t pay their parking tickets. Cars worth a couple of thousand dollars that the owners depended on for work. What a fascist!

  5. 5.

    Baud

    @ruemara:

    Sometimes, I think why Rudy ever became mayor was the hope for some white people that he would help the police keep browns in their place.

    Hard to believe a Republican could get elected into office by sticking it to brown people.

  6. 6.

    srv

    Joe Friday: We’ll always have incidents like this because we have one big problem in selecting police officers.

    Chief: What’s that?

    Friday: We have to recruit from the human race.

  7. 7.

    Mandalay

    @Jeffro:

    please pass the popcorn

    Indeed. Rubio has picked up the gun, pointed it carefully at his foot, and squeezed the trigger…

    “With all due respect, Senator Marco Rubio was captain of the GOP cheerleading team for Obama’s arming of Syrian rebels, bombing Libya resulting in a jihadist wonderland, and illegally giving foreign aid to Egypt’s military government. The Rubio-Obama foreign policy has made the Middle East and North Africa less safe,” Doug Stafford, a senior advisor to Paul, said in an email to TPM.

    If it’s gonna be open war between Paul and Rubio over who is most incompetent then bet on Rubio. He is possibly the dumbest fucker in the Senate, and that bar is set really low.

  9. 9.

    Howard Beale IV

    While the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association had called the rally to protest Mayor David N. Dinkins’s proposal to create an independent civilian agency that would look into police misconduct, the huge turnout — estimated by the Police Department at 10,000 protesters — and the harsh emotional pitch reflected widespread anger among rank-and-file officers toward the Mayor for his handling of riots against the police in Washington Heights last July, his refusal to give them semiautomatic weapons and his appointment of an outside panel to investigate corruption…

    Too bad Mohammed Salameh and crew didn’t target this protest-they would have done the world a whole lot of favors.

  10. 10.

    Marc

    @ruemara:

    Sometimes, I think why Rudy ever became mayor was the hope for some white people that he would help the police keep browns in their place.

    The same reason any Republican has been elected to any office since 1980.

  11. 11.

    Mike in NC

    Mayor Giuliani clearly used Benito Mussolini as his role model. Surprised that he didn’t design a spiffy black uniform to wear, complete with shiny jackboots.

    A pity, too, that he hasn’t announced another run for president in 2016.

  12. 12.

    raven

    @BGinCHI:

    The mayor and the police commissioner now have choices to make that could determine de Blasio’s relationship with the NYPD for the next three years. Do they respond in kind, denouncing Lynch? Or do they try to take the high road and attribute his actions to the pain of the moment? Either way, the anger at de Blasio in the department is understandable and real — even among cops who know he had nothing to do with the evil of Ismaaiyl Brinsley. Whether de Blasio can defuse it will depend a great deal on Bratton’s credibility with his cops. The commissioner appealed to their pride tonight, when he was asked about how they’ll approach demonstrations in the next few days. “It’s going to be tough for the men and women of this department,” Bratton said. “But they’ll do what we expect of them, protect the city. It’s what cops do.” On a night of raw emotion and rhetoric, those might have been the truest and most moving words.

  13. 13.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @raven: Are they trained professionals or hormonal teenage girls? How does one of the premier cities in the world end up with a 35,000 Heathers patrolling the streets?

  15. 15.

    El Caganer

    “But they’ll do what we expect of them, protect the city. It’s what cops do.”

    So that’s what they do. Good to know.

  16. 16.

    Howard Beale IV

    Former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik told Newsmax that Saturday’s execution-style shooting of two uniformed police officers was ultimately encouraged by Mayor Bill de Blasio and the Rev. Al Sharpton — and “they have blood on their hands.”

    So sayeth the felon (conspiracy, tax fraud and making false statements).

  18. 18.

    scav

    It does rather simplify matters to have it explicitly spelled out just who is it in this society (the chosen few, this happy band of brothers) that are allowed to actively mourn their fallen, command respect for their grief and not only see conspiracies against them everywhere, but insist on measures being taken to correct their grievances. Everyone else? Shut up and back of the line.

  23. 23.

    Cacti

    @Howard Beale IV:

    Yes, I can’t help but notice that any time someone quotes Bernie Kerik, they don’t introduce him as “disgraced former New York Police Commissioner” or “former New York Police Commissioner and 8-time convicted felon”.

    I’m sure I don’t know why.

  24. 24.

    David Koch

    Mr. Lynch said. “We’ll mourn for our city and we’ll mourn for our brothers,” he said. “We’ll straighten our shoulders, we’ll stiffen our backs and we’ll wipe our tears.”

    But he warned, “When those funerals are over, we’ll raise our heads and those that allowed this to go on will be held accountable.”

    From that rant, it sounds like they’re planning to do another police riot.

  26. 26.

    PurpleGirl

    This is the rally/riot where the cops passed around a cartoon that depicted Mayor Dinkins as a restroom attendant. RG didn’t say a word then about and I don’t believe he ever said anything about it. Way to respect your ultimate boss. The lot of them should have been fired for insubordination.

  28. 28.

    Cacti

    Prior to the 9/11 PR boost that the NYPD received, they were mostly in the news for the Abner Louima and Amadou Diallo incidents.

    When haven’t they been racist and dirty?

  30. 30.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Mike in NC: “A small man in search of a balcony” — Jimmy Breslin, commening on Rudy Giuliani

    One deals with Mussolini wannabees the way the Italians dealt with the original.

  31. 31.

    drkrick

    @David Koch:

    Mr. Lynch said … “When those funerals are over, we’ll raise our heads and those that allowed this to go on will be held accountable.”

    He hadn’t heard that the guy had already killed himself?

  34. 34.

    ruemara

    @Baud: Tax cuts and a boot on the neck of the unworthy, forever. but remember, I wasn’t even 16 and didn’t know what a Republican was.

  35. 35.

    Mnemosyne

    @ruemara:

    I looked and I can’t your email address. :-( I’m pretty sure we put mine into your phone (my real name also starts with an M and it’s a Yahoo address, if that helps), or you can send an email via my blog linked here.

    We put a harness on Charlotte and she’s not thrilled, but she’s not completely hating life. Treats, petting, toys and praise made her a little more resigned to it.

  36. 36.

    Mike in NC

    We like the sitcom “Brooklyn Nine Nine”. In one episode, the police captain played by Andre Brauer recalled the time in the 70s when he was one of the first African-American detectives In the NYPD.

    In the flashback, he walks into the squad room where all the white male cops are sitting around talking and laughing, and suddenly there’s dead silence. He finally says, “Good morning, I’m Ray Holt”. One of the detectives asks, “Are you here to turn yourself in?”.

  39. 39.

    mainmati

    @Mandalay: Better yet, the Turtle is going to be “ruling” over a riotous menagerie of peacock Senators: Rubio, Rand Paul, the Cruz Machine, Mike Lee, the genuine loony Cotton, the openly corrupt Thillis – and those are just the new guys. Then you have the traditional barons: Hatch, Cornyn, Grampa Walnuts, etc. who have their own hobby horses. Yeah, popcorn alright. Meanwhile, will anything actually get done for the next 2 years? Not a chance, except maybe other Cromnibuses.

  40. 40.

    BBA

    To this day, the NYPD still sees Frank Serpico as a traitor, and all he did was blow the whistle on cops taking bribes.

  43. 43.

    Bonnie

    @BBA: I don’t believe any thing has changed since Serpico. But, people who haven’t read the book or seen the movie really should do one or the other. I think it is the same with most large police departments even today.

  44. 44.

    JDM

    @srv: Joe Friday: We’ll always have incidents like this because we have one big problem in selecting police officers.

    Chief: What’s that?

    Friday: We have to recruit from the human race.

    Dragnet had an episode where Joe and Bill went around doing background interviews of prospective officers, and drummed one out before he started due to his past as a bad cop. Now that I can’t see happening today (if it ever really did). They wouldn’t spend the time, and if they found a guy like that, they’d hire him in a second and probably ask if he had any buddies who wanted to join too.

  48. 48.

    PeorgieTirebiter

    I’d like to see the NFL player’s union weigh in with some threats and demands of their own. Let the people choose between protecting rogue cops and the play-offs.

  50. 50.

    wenchacha

    I have missed certain years of American history. The college I attended in the late 70s was in the middle of nowhere. I never read a newspaper or saw the network evening news. Since that time, the Church Commission has finally revealed itself to me, thanks to our “torture is not torture” prez. The name had been mentioned before this, and all I knew was that Frank Church was a member of Congress, and well-respected after his death.

    Now there’s this police riot, and I guess I had two kids under the age of four, and some of those years are a vague misty fog in my head. This, even when I have been following political stuff, casually but steadily over most of my adult years. We need journalists and historians telling these stories, at least an HBO documentary or Frontline treatment.

    Small wonder our citizenry are drowning in misinformation, if any at all.

  51. 51.

    Tree With Water

    @PeorgieTirebiter: Roger Goodell and the NFL’s “Hut, 2,3,4, Authority Forevermore!” ownership groups are in quite the bind over the cop’s unions vs. players, aren’t they? You just know The Shield would love to endorse the cops and damn the players, but they simply do not dare. Heh-heh.

  52. 52.

    Tommy

    @wenchacha:

    I have missed certain years of American history.

    So have I. I went to college in the late 80s. A state school. But in the middle of nowhere. I went there and got taught the world around me was so “nice” if not easy. Then I went to live other places and learned the world isn’t easy. The world is a complex place.

  54. 54.

    sharl

    @JDM:

    Dragnet had an episode where Joe and Bill went around doing background interviews of prospective officers, and drummed one out before he started due to his past as a bad cop. Now that I can’t see happening today (if it ever really did). They wouldn’t spend the time, and if they found a guy like that, they’d hire him in a second and probably ask if he had any buddies who wanted to join too.

    Funny – not ha-hah funny – you should mention this:

    The Cop Who Killed Tamir Rice Was Found Unfit for Police Duty in 2012

    Tim Loehmann, the Cleveland police officer who shot 12-year-old Tamir Rice to death last month, resigned from a smaller Ohio police force in 2012 after being found unfit for duty. Among other obviously disqualifying behavior, Loehmann was “distracted” and “weepy” during his firearm qualification session, according to just-released records from his brief tenure with the Independence police department.

  56. 56.

    Violet

    @Botsplainer:

    Does anybody know a deranged violent person that we can point in the direction of Chuck Todd’s house?

    How are the MTP ratings? Last I heard they were worse than when Dancin’ Dave was hosting. The deranged violent person might not be necessary if the toupeed groundhog can’t improve his ratings.

  58. 58.

    Tommy

    @sharl: That has been said. He killed that child. And IMHO two words need to be used when talking about this. Child. Killed.Sure things might be FUBAR in our nation. You can choke out and kill a person. But this was a darn kid.

  60. 60.

    Tommy

    @Baud: Grad school in Baton Rouge. Undergrad, Macomb, IL. Directional school. Western Illinois University. I wouldn’t change it for a second. Got a good education there. But it was in the middle of nowhere.

  72. 72.

    etaoin

    @BGinCHI: There isn’t a police chief, precisely; there’s the police commissioner and a bunch of other deputy commissioners, chiefs of patrol, etc.

  74. 74.

    Corner Stone

    Not sure what the big deal about Michael Sam would be. These guys hug each other to the ground every play!

  77. 77.

    Steeplejack

    For anyone who gets the Eurotrash micro-channel MHz on their cable system, I will once again recommend the excellent Italian crime series Inspector Montalbano, which is getting a marathon this week: episodes (in order) at 8:00 and 10:00 p.m. EST every night (repeated at midnight and 2:00 a.m.). Great scenery (Sicily), good acting and better than average scripts. And good food! The first episode is on now.

  78. 78.

    Kryptik, A Man Without a Country

    @sidhra:

    But don’t you know, Police are one of the most oppressed and downtrodden groups in America, just behind White Christian Conservatives!

  81. 81.

    Kryptik, A Man Without a Country

    @Mike J:

    Don’t you hear that man’s voice? He’s screaming out for justice! He’s screaming out against his oppression!

  85. 85.

    nellcote

    Has anyone mentioned the police unions and NYC have been in contract talks for years and now they’re going to arbritration?

  86. 86.

    nellcote

    Rudy, inciting a riot in 1992

    One of my favorite internet writers called Lower Manhattanite wrote about the riot in 2007. A sample:

    “Cops carried signs that said “Dump the Washroom Attendant,” “Mayor, have you hugged your dealer today” and “Dinkins, We Know Your True-Color–Yellow Bellied.” Drawings on their homemade posters depicted the mayor in a ’60s Afro with giant lips, or engaged in kinky sex acts. They broke through police barricades and stormed the steps of City Hall, cheering “Take the Hall!” and banging on windows… They chanted “Rudy, Rudy,” in thunderous rhythm, as he worked his way through the nearly all-white mob, beaming, backslapping, posing for photos, pumping his fist. WCBC-TV camerman John Haygood was called a nigger. Una Clarke, a city councilwoman from Brooklyn, was stopped by an off-duty copy with a beer in his hand who said to his sidekick: “This n*gger says she’s a member of the City Council.”

    The Una Clarke part of the story I remember as if it was yesterday. She spoke about it on the news that night. She was shaken. You see, she wasn’t merely stopped by drunken, racist officers. She was stopped from entering City Hall by drunken, racist officers. They had no problem with calling an elected member of New York City government a n*gger to her face and treating her as if it were the Jim Crow South, circa 1949.

    …So, it was a lot deeper than Rudy just using “a naughty word”. It was him effectively playing a big part in what was in essence a one-day coup d’ etat, where the “military” (The NYPD) let it be known that they were not beholden to the wishes of the present government, and had thrown their allegiance behind an unelected, rabble-rousing demagogue. And they were gonna make anyone who looked like “the government” (Mayor Dinkins) pay…big time

    That’s why that day will always stand out in stark, fucking relief for me, and several million other New Yorkers. It was a day that Black folks collectively gulped as we realized that the NYPD would not answer to the government. It made us all walk a little more carefully, with a flinch, and a glance over the shoulder—at the cops, and especially Rudy….

    http://www.groupnewsblog.net/2007/07/ohokay-i-will-pick-your-lotto-numbers_25.html

  87. 87.

    ? Martin

    @efgoldman: Probably, but not really. If you go after Democrats you get that subset, and why not go after sympathizers as well? They didn’t hold back on Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, after all.

    It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out. Manhattan is quite Democratic and Brooklyn is increasingly moving that way. If the NYPD chooses to go to war, I fully expect them to overreach and misread the public. It’s simply not 1992 any longer. I lived there back then. It’s a different enough city to matter. Not as different as it ought to be, but different enough.

  89. 89.

    Jeffro

    @Mandalay: I know, I know…I’m amazed at the amount of Republican dogwhistles that are out there this early…”cheerleader”(with all that entails!)…”Obama-Paul foreign policy”…no wait, “Rubio-Obama foreign policy”…

    If they keep this up, all Hillary will have to do is a half-hearted throwing-under-the-bus of Obama over something stupid, and then make fun of the bedwetters (Paul, Rubio, et all) and win it in a cakewalk. She’s already got to be seen as the toughest candidate either party has right now.

  90. 90.

    AxelFoley

    @Cacti:

    Prior to the 9/11 PR boost that the NYPD received, they were mostly in the news for the Abner Louima and Amadou Diallo incidents.

    When haven’t they been racist and dirty?

    Exactly. 9/11 provided a lot of cover for these racist scumbag cops and Guiliani. After that, I remember the media calling that ugly fucker “America’s Mayor”.

    GTFO

  91. 91.

    Sherparick

    Three months ago a right-wing nut ambushed two Pennsylvania State Troopers, killing one and critically wounding another. http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/11/13/eric-frein-suspect-in-pennsylvania-state-trooper-ambush-charged-with-terrorism/ Faux News and the rightwing did not notice, even though their rhetoric of the last 25 years created all the nutty ideas that filled this particular nuts head. The shameless racism of the right-wing is amazing, and I include most police unions in the right-wing.

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