Former New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly told Fox News host Sean Hannity that the National Guard may be needed as unrest and violence continued in the city on Thursday night.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has rejected President Trump’s offer to bring in the National Guard. Kelly is an ally of Trump’s.
“The NYPD has 38,000 police officers, and I would think enough police officers to do the job, but I’m starting to think if this continues for a couple more nights, we are going to need the National Guard,” Kelly said. “That was not my initial position, but something has got to be done.”
Police arrested 270 people on Thursday night in New York City and have arrested more than 2,000 people since the protests began.
While most of those protesting in New York have been peaceful, there have been multiple incidents of looting and vandalism in the city, as well as reports of police coming under attack.
“The police officers are working 12-hour tours, no days off. They are exhausted,” Kelly said. “They’ve been run down, they’ve been hit by bricks, trash cans. I just saw a video — it’s been out a couple days apparently, but I missed it — where police were hit over the head with a fire extinguisher and you see the blood gushing out.”
The protests erupted after the death on Memorial Day of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died after a Minneapolis police office knelt on his neck while pinning him to the street for more than eight minutes. The officer faces charges of second-degree murder, and three other officers present face other charges.