Transcript: Mayor Adams Holds In-Person Media Availability

December 9, 2024

Mayor Eric Adams: Good afternoon, and I'm joined here today by our chief of detectives and the police commissioner and chief of department because we have a strong person of interest in the shooting that shook our city last week. Our CEO, Brian Thompson of United Healthcare, was the victim of a senseless act of violence. Our officers have been working around the clock. Many of them did not go home to pursue this individual. It was crucial that we were able to remove him off the streets of America, and we were going to seek him out no matter where he was at the time.

And so this is a strong person of interest. The police commissioner and chief of detectives will go over where we are right now in the investigation. He matches the description of the identification we've been looking for. He's also in possession of several items that we believe will connect him to this incident.

How did we do it? Good, old-fashioned police work. The chief of detectives and the police commissioner made the decision to release as much of a photo that we've that we had at the time. We sent it across the country and someone, a McDonald's employee, did something we ask every American to do. If you see something, say something, but most importantly, do something. And they did. And because of that, we believe we have a strong person of interest to deal with this case. I want to now turn it over to the police commissioner of the City of New York, Commissioner Tisch.

Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch: Thank you, mayor. Good afternoon, everyone. Earlier this morning in Altoona, Pennsylvania, members of the Altoona Police Department arrested Luigi Mangione, a 26-year-old male on firearms charges. At this time, he is believed to be our person of interest in the brazen, targeted murder of Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare, last Wednesday in Midtown Manhattan.

The suspect was in a McDonald's and was recognized by an employee who then called local police. Responding officers questioned the suspect, who was acting suspiciously and was carrying multiple fraudulent IDs, as well as a U.S. passport. Upon further investigation, officers recovered a firearm on his person, as well as a suppressor, both consistent with the weapon used in the murder. They also recovered clothing, including a mask consistent with those worn by our wanted individual. Also recovered was a fraudulent New Jersey ID, matching the ID our suspect used to check into his New York City hostel before the shooting incident. Additionally, officers recovered a handwritten document that speaks to both his motivation and mindset.

NYPD detectives are en route to Pennsylvania as we seek to interview the subject further. This apprehension is thanks to the tireless work of the greatest detectives in the world, and of course, the strong relationships we have with our local law enforcement partners. On every level, local, state, and federal, we all serve the same public safety mission. And this case, which captured the attention of an entire nation, is another example of how connected we are and how important it is to work together, share information, and pursue every lead.

For just over five days, our NYPD investigators combed through thousands of hours of video, followed up on hundreds of tips, and processed every bit of forensic evidence, DNA, fingerprints, IP addresses, and so much more to tighten the net. We deployed drones, canine units, and scuba divers. We leveraged the domain awareness system, Argus cameras, and conducted aviation canvases. And our detectives also went door to door, interviewing potential witnesses, and doing the good old-fashioned police work that our investigators are famous for. This combination of old-school detective work and new-age technology is what led to this result today.

And we must also acknowledge the instrumental role the media and the public played in this case. The images that we shared with the public were spread far and wide, and the tips we received led to the recovery of crucial evidence. We should never underestimate the power of the public to be our eyes and our ears in these investigations. This is the third time in three weeks that a member of the public has seen something, and said something, and done something that led to a high-profile arrest. The triple-stabbing homicide in Manhattan, the gunpoint robberies in Queens during which an NYPD officer was shot, and now this.

Now, the case will continue through the criminal justice process, and while we are proud of today's accomplishment, we must of course remember that a family is in mourning. I want to again extend my sympathies to Brian's family, his co-workers, and all who knew him.

Finally, I want to thank the women and men of the NYPD, especially our Detective Bureau personnel, with a strong assist from our intelligence analysts. We also thank the SAC of the FBI's Criminal Investigative Division, Leslie Rodrigues-Backschies, and I want to commend the staff of the Manhattan DA's office, and especially DA Alvin Bragg. He has been working with us 24-7 on this case, and I am incredibly grateful for his partnership. I'll now pass it along to our great Chief of Detectives, Joe Kenney, who will provide additional information. Chief.

Chief Joseph Kenny, Chief of Detectives, New York City Police Department: Thank you, commissioner. Good afternoon. As the commissioner stated earlier, a male was taken into custody today at Altoona, Pennsylvania, this morning. He has been identified as Luigi Nicholas Mangione. He's a male, 26 years old. He was born and raised in Maryland. We know he has ties to San Francisco, California, and his last known address was Honolulu, Hawaii. He has no prior arrest history in New York.

Members of the NYPD Detective Bureau are currently traveling to Pennsylvania with members of the Manhattan District Attorney's Office to interview this subject. This case was brought to a successful conclusion based on the coordinated effort between numerous NYPD units, including the Intelligence and Counterterrorism Bureau, our federal partners at the FBI, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, and, of course, members of the Altoona Police Department in Pennsylvania.

On Thursday, one day after this crime was committed, the NYPD released a photo of the shooter. In this case, this picture was obtained by the NYPD during one of their extensive video canvases. We took that photograph, and we asked for the public's help in identifying this subject, and the public responded. Hundreds of tips began to pour into our hotline. Each tip was investigated thoroughly, and we began to release additional photographs as they came into our possession. The NYPD provided these photos to numerous media outlets. Local, national, and international outlets released the photo via television, print, social media, and online content.

Luckily, a citizen in Pennsylvania recognized our subject and called local law enforcement. Members of the Altoona Police Department responded to the call, and based on their investigation, they notified the NYPD. This investigation is still active and ongoing. Thank you very much.

Question: I had a couple of questions about the document that he was found in possession with. Can you go a little bit more in depth about those motivations that you mentioned? Was that CEO specifically named in that document? Was there anything more about him wanting to go after others?

And also in that document, was there any indication that explains how- the level of detail that he went into killing him? Like, is there anything-

Chief Kenny: That document is currently in the possession of the Altoona Police Department as part of their investigation. But just from briefly speaking with them, we don't think that there's any specific threats to other people mentioned in that document, but it does seem that he has some ill will toward corporate America.

Question: Chief, was the suspect wearing a mask at the time he was spotted in the McDonald's? And also, criminal cases often have a linchpin. Can you point to a single linchpin that helped crack this case?

Chief Kenny There's numerous linchpins in this case, and the fact that we've recovered an enormous amount of forensic evidence, an enormous amount of video. And once again, with your help and the public's help. So I couldn't, I really couldn't put it on one thing, but if I had to, it would be the release of that photograph from the media.

Question: You said he had a passport on him. Do you believe he was trying to flee the country? And also, are you still looking for any evidence in Central Park in regards to the bike?

Chief Kenny: We had divers in the water yesterday that came up with negative results. The passport, we don't believe that he was planning on doing any traveling. At this point in our investigation, we don't think he was trying to flee the country.

Question: The person at the McDonald's, were they buying food? What were they doing at that exact moment?

Chief Kenny It was an employee at the McDonald's.

Question: Right. But what was the suspect doing?

Chief Kenny: He was sitting there eating.

Question: Will the suspect be brought back to New York and charged here? And when?

Chief Kenny: We're going to have to work that out with the Manhattan District Attorney's Office in Altoona, Pennsylvania. He's going to be facing gun charges there, and at some point, we'll work out through extradition to bring him back to New York to face charges here, working with the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.

Question: Hi, Aneeta from the New York Post. I was just hoping to get more details on the capture itself. Did he put up a fight? Did he say anything to cops? And we've also reported that he published online anti-health care industry rantings. Can you share with us some of the services that he posted on? We're still working

Chief Kenny: We're still working through his social media. We're going to do a complete scrub of that. Preliminarily, like I said, he seems that he had some ill will toward corporate America, but that will all come out as part of our investigation. We're not done here. We're still going to be putting this together. We're still going to be working very hard to bring this to a successful conclusion.

Question: In the capture itself, did he put up a fight? Did he say anything to police?

Chief Kenny: I don't have that information.

Question: Can you elaborate on how he got there? The path he took from Port Authority and the George Washington Bridge to Altoona, PA? Same thing.

Chief Kenny: Same thing. This just happened this morning. We'll be working, backtracking his steps from New York to Altoona, Pennsylvania.

Question: I was gonna ask him if he knew anything. If he took a bus to Philadelphia first and then somehow got to Altoona.

Chief Kenny: We're still working on that. We're still working through that.

Question: Is there any indication that anybody else was helping him from the inside? You know, as far as tracking the CEO's movements.

Chief Kenny: Once again, we're still working this investigation very hard. It's not at his conclusion yet that could come out during our investigation. But as of right now, we have no indication that that took place.

Question: Chief, did he have any weapons or anything like that with him when he was arrested?

Chief Kenny: He was in possession of a ghost gun that had the capability of firing a nine millimeter round and a suppressor.

Question: Can you get into a little bit about the technical aspects of the investigation? I know you deployed an unprecedented amount of technology. You also activated the century program through Intel. Can you talk about how that is gonna play into actually building the case as far as cell phone and all of the other technical aspects of what you've done?

Chief Kenny: In this case, it really came down to technology was the use of drones in Central Park and really comes down to the video canvas that we did. We used every source of video that we could collect hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of hours from hundreds of sources, and that helped bring this to where we are right now.

Question: The gun, is it believed to be the gun he used in the shooting? And there was some talk that it was a veterinarian type of gun. Is that accurate?

Chief Kenny: Right now the information we're getting from Altoona is that the gun appears to be a ghost gun. May have been made on a 3D printer, with the capability of firing a nine millimeter round. Obviously, that will come out during our ballistics testing.

Question: Do you have any indication like how long this, like handwritten- is it a hundred manifesto that you found on the suspect? And then also whether or not he put it online at all?

Chief Kenny: Don't know if it's online. As of right now, it's a handwritten three page document.

Question: Chief, does he have ties to that area? And was he someone who you knew by name before the arrest?

Chief Kenny: We believe he may have attended college in Pennsylvania. But like I said earlier, he has ties to Maryland and California and Hawaii.

Question: Was his name on your radar? Was he someone who you had been looking into before his arrest?

Chief Kenny: No, we did not have his name prior to today.

Question: Does he have any priors? I know there were none for New York City, but is there any priors anywhere else in the country?

Chief Kenny: We have not come across any arrests in the country.

Question: On two things. On the ghost gun, is it something you're gonna be looking into to see he made it himself. Can you make that himself? Or is that- would you have to buy the gun the way it was?

Chief Kenny: No, but, once again, that would be part of our investigation as we follow up.

Question: I mean, obviously, he's gonna face murder charges, but is there any chance that he could face any other charges because he was targeting the CEO and because of his writings and other things that we're now finding? On federal charges?

Chief Kenny: That determination will be made by Alvin Bragg.

Question: What connection does he have in Pennsylvania? Are they in Altoona specifically?

Chief Kenny: We believe he attended college in Pennsylvania.

Question: Does he know anybody in Pennsylvania?

Chief Kenny: I wouldn't be able to tell you that.

Question: You talk about the manifesto having said things against corporations, but specifically United Healthcare. And do you believe that Mangione acted alone?

Chief Kenny: We believe at this point our investigation is leaning toward he was acting alone. Like I stated earlier, we're still we're still working through the investigation. We're not stopping today.

And as far as far as the manifesto, like I said, I don't have to complete details of that. It's in the possession of the Altoona Police Department.

Mayor Adams: Good job. Commissioner. Chief Maddrey. Again, great job by the New York City Police Department. Certain aspects of this investigation and the crime itself is something that we have been zeroing in on, ghost guns.

We have really talked about this since the beginning of the administration. They could be made on a 3D printer and they are extremely dangerous and we must sue more on the federal level to clamp down on the availability of ghost guns.

And it just really leads into just the top headers of what we did last week and what we're doing this week. This week is all about public safety. Public safety, I've stated over and over again. it's a prerequisite to our prosperity and we're going to continue to make this city a safe city. Safest big city in America. But anytime you have a crime of this magnitude, it shocks us and it really has a major impact on the perception of crime in this city.

Crime has continued to go down. We're going to continue to do what's needed. Today we announced in every block count initiative and the blocks that we identified since October, they have not had one shooting or one shot fire job that came over. We're going to add that on to our community link operation that has resulted in over 1000 operations and over 700 complaints resolved, nearly 16,000 summonses issued. There were 200 people placed in shelter. Our community link initiative is extremely important. It operates every day across the city, removing ghost cars, targeting illegal vendors and addressing the everyday problems that make new yorkers feel unsafe.

The precincts where we have focused on our every block count is the 73rd precinct in Brooklyn and the 46th precinct in the Bronx. These two precincts have historically seen high rates of violent crimes and shooting incidents. And so we want to make sure we deal with all of those quality of life issues that impacts why criminal behavior takes place. We don't don't want to only to be reactive, we want to be proactive.

Hats off to the team. It's a big belief on my part, you have to dismantle the historic walls that kept us from operating together. FDNY, DSNY, DOB, DEP, HPD, NYCHA, Parks, DOT and other community based organizations are all part of this initiative with the local block CEO. And many, many more agencies.

You know, last week we announced Axe the Tax for the working class. We're really pleased with this initiative. $62 million will be going back to those who had 150 percent of poverty line. When you add that with our earned income tax credit and the other initiatives that we put in place, it clearly shows how important it is for us to focus on low income, working class people. We really want to thank Senator Leroy Comrie and State Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn for carrying the bill. So Amaris, why don't we open the floor to a few questions?

Question: Other good news today, Daniel Penny was found not guilty of the killing of Jordan Neely. I wanted to get your thoughts on that.

And then another question, last week on our morning show, you left the door open seemingly to rejoining the Republican Party. I wanted to know why you didn't say you're a proud Democrat. Do you find issues with your own party?

Mayor Adams: First, as I stated when this incident first happened with Jordan, that's my son's name. And these incidents that happened in the city, is not only professional, but they're personal. And we take that with us. Jordan should not have had had to die. And I strongly believe, as I've been stating, probably from day one, we have a mental health system that is broken. When you have someone repeatedly going through that system, that's a signature of failure. And we need help in Albany and in the City Council. We can't sit back and mourn the loss of someone that is caught up in the system when we're not taking the action every day. But a jury of his peers heard the case, saw all the facts and all the evidence and made a decision. And I joined DA Braggs in stating that I respect the process.

Question: And then my second question, last week, in leaving the door open about joining a Republican Party on our morning show. Why didn't you say you're a proud Democrat? Do you find issues with your own party?

Mayor Adams: No. It's amazing how things takes legs and create their own creative writing style. I never stated that I was not running as a Democrat. I ran as a Democrat, as a senator, as a borough president, as a mayor and I won. I'm running as a Democrat. I was on Channel 11 and they asked the same question. I said the same thing.

I am true blue, but I'm also a true blue collar mayor. And the American people, in general, but specifically here in the city of New York, they're tired of this squabbling after campaigns are over. I don't think anything is more infuriating than, while you are dealing with everyday crises, people are having an intellectual conversation of parties.

When I took office as a police officer and as an elected official, I pledged allegiance to the United States of America. That's what I said on your show. And how did I run? That's just the nature of the creativity that comes from your industry. I ran as a Democrat. I'm going to run as a Democrat, and I'm going to win as a Democrat like I did the last time.

Question: I was wondering if you could follow up on another comment you made over the weekend about potential of invoking executive action to override the council on Sanctuary City Law. Can you give us any other details about what you're considering doing? I think you expressed why, but any details about any new policy you're presenting?

One quick follow up to Kelly's question. Do you think the verdict in the Daniel Penny case says anything about the mood of the city? And do you feel like it opens the door for maybe more of these interactions of people taking, uh, justice?

Mayor Adams: Good question. And I'll answer the latter first. Of what you see, of what people often do, a lot of people make interpretations, you know, about trials, but juries are in the courtroom. They're hearing every piece of evidence, they are hearing the testimonies. They have to make the decision. And that's the system that we have. And actually, it is probably one of the best systems on the globe. And I think the jury's heard the evidence and made a determination based on the evidence that they heard. And the… does it impact what's going to happen throughout the city that people are not going to take action or going to take action? I don't think it does.

I think that oftentimes people make these decisions when they are in the midst of it. And there's a desire of New Yorkers to help out those who are in need. There's a desire of New Yorkers is to always respond when they believe it's necessary. And I don't think that is going to change in any way. This is not the first time, and I'm sure it's not going to be the last time that individuals take actions and people are going to question about those actions that happened.

But at the cornerstone and at the heart of this is that, of this young man, like so many others that are on our subway systems, I made it clear that's not a place to sleep, to live. That's not a place to be. And when they need help, we need to give them the help of that they have. What was your first question?

Question: Any more details about-

Mayor Adams: The sanctuary city. They have not been unclear about this. I've been extremely clear. I've said it over and over again. I said it last year sometime. The part of the law that the City Council, they have refused to change, that we cannot communicate with ice when people commit serious violent acts. I disagree with that. That was not the sanctuary city law that Mayor Koch put in place. It was not the sanctuary city law that Mayor Bloomberg did.

The previous administration made a major change, and there was a report over the weekend where council person stated that. Why don't you just open up the, the federal ICE office on Rikers Island? We can't. It's… right, right. So, you know, one should know what the law is and what the law is it. And if I had legal standings to overturn that law, then that's the conversation I want to have with the corp counsel. When we feel the law is unjust, we go to our corp counsel and say, do we have legal standards? We're not going to do frivolous lawsuits just to say we're doing a lawsuit.

Question: [Inaudible.] Because there is a list of crimes where someone committed them. You can't release a detainer if vice has a judicial warrant. So is it a matter of adding more crimes? Is it a matter of what you just mentioned, allowing ice to work on city property? Any specifics you can give us?

Mayor Adams: My directions to the corp counsel was to give me my options on what I could do as the mayor and what EOs I can actually put in place. They are looking through the options. They're extremely clear on my feelings about people who harm innocent New Yorkers and people who are migrants and assignment seekers. I'm clear on that no one in this city should be the victim of a violent crime. And so they're looking at that. And once we make a determination, I can circle back.

Question: I just wanted to circle back on to the Daniel Penny verdict. Should the governor remove District Attorney Alvin Bragg after losing this case, which you previously signaled is a case that should not have been brought forward. And then I just wanted to follow up with, is the jury's decision a reflection that New York is a sick of a soft on crime justice system?

Mayor Adams: No, she should not remove D. A. Bragg. The people voted for the district attorney. We have a process on. I am totally against using mechanisms to overstep the boundaries of the electeds. And so no. And we've had great partnership with the district attorney and some of the things that we have done in the city. And we look forward to continue to do that.

New Yorkers have always been tired of things that allow people who commit violence acts to be part of a revolving door system. You know, I talked about this over and over again that we need to deal with those who are repeatedly dealing with carrying out violent acts and those who need help. I mean, 18 percent 18 to 20 percent of those on Rikers Island have severe mental health issues. 51 percent have mental health issues. That's why my call of using one of the four jails that were open it to turn it into a state of the art psychiatric facility. We could do a better job, and we could do better resources and it can't be waiting to these incidents happen. Then everybody stands up and say something is wrong. We need to stand up before something happens.

Question: When you meet with Tom Homan this week, are you planning to talk with him about migrants who are living in the shelter system? And do you plan to express anything to him about the threat of deportation about your concerns about people who are here who are law abiding?

Mayor Adams: We're gonna have a host of conversations, but at the root of my conversation is how do we secure our border? I want to share some of my strategies. We need a real decompression strategy. It's important to go after those who are committing serious crimes, particularly those dangerous gangs that have come from Venezuela. And now we're finding them on the streets of our country. And I'm interested to hear his ideas on how we're going to go about that. And I'm excited about the conversation.

Question: On the… I understand you're saying, you respect the process. I'm just wondering if you think this is the right verdict. You said last week that you wanted the jury to reach the right verdict. You also said last week that Mr. Penny did quote what we should have done as a city in his interaction with Jordan Neely. I'm just wondering if you can elaborate a little bit on what you meant by that.

On a totally different issue. There was a mayoral forum over the weekend, specifically about housing, where three candidates committed to freezing the rent, more or less directing the rent guidelines for not do an increase next year. Is that something you would support? And if not, why? And on these mayoral forums, you didn't show up to this one. Are you gonna show up to any of these? Or why do you keep skipping?

Mayor Adams: First, do I think it's the right verdict or the wrong verdict? The jury made the decision. I respect like the D.A. I respect the process. And that was the that was the process. And what I was saying about, we should have been standing up for those passengers. That's what we should have done for the city and standing up for those passengers means address the mental health crisis we have in the city and not just wait until incidents like this happen. And determination of him that he stood up rightfully or wrongfully that came in front of the jury of his of his peers.

The what was your first your second question? Yeah, we got many forums that are going to take place. And, you know what I've learned when I was campaigning, a lot of people talk about the ideas of what they can do, what they want to do. One thing no one can say I did it. All the things that I said for the most part that I was going to do from dyslexia screening to reducing tax on low income New Yorkers to bringing down crimes to high speed broadband for nature residents who invested in foster care children to do tax incentives for low income New Yorkers, to turn around the unemployment rate. I can give you the whole list.

So what they're doing is wishful thinking. I put the team together to make it happen for housing conversion. And I'm happy to hear that they all have woke up and realized we have a housing crisis and now they're coming up with visions. But it's starting from the fact we had the most comprehensive housing reform in the history of the city. That's what we gotta remind everybody and all those who are running that that are elected already. The question should be, where have you been?

So if you had all these visions before, don't wait until you decide to run for mayor. We're doing it. And so good luck to them. And I'm looking forward to some of the forums and some of the debates. I'm looking forward to them because I have something to run on, not just a dollar in a dream.

[Crosstalk.]

Question: Mr. Mayor. So this morning the City Council and public advocate filed a lawsuit over your suspension of the local law or intuitively, you know, solitary confinement bill. You know, I'm just wondering what your reaction is to that. They're trying to prevent you from… setting that law…

Mayor Adams: And it would be played out in courts. We just have a difference of opinion here. First of all, [] we don't have a solitary confinement, you know, and I don't know why they keep saying that we don't have a solitary confinement. And, I'm not a hard guy to figure out. I made it clear over and over again, public safety.

And I don't go to Rikers Island just to, you know, have a photo op. You know, when I went on Thanksgiving Day, it was to talk to the correction officers and the inmates. It was to walk through and see, are we making progress? I've been on Rikers Island more than any man in the history of this city.

And my job is to make sure correction officers are safe. The civilian employees are safe and inmates are safe. 80 percent of those who are assaulted on Rikers Island are assaulted by other inmates. And I need to make sure that they're safe. And the way the law, the law was written, it jeopardized their safety. And we took necessary steps after communicating with the corporation counsel and the court to make that decision.

Question: Yeah, Mayor Adams, with the CEO shooting, there was a constant stream of updates, surveillance images, crime stop alerts, TV news spots, requests from, for information from the NYPD. But I wanted to ask you about the killing of a migrant teenager last week in the financial district.

A group of men attacked him and another migrant after reportedly asking him whether he spoke English or not. What updates do you have in that case? And do you have images of the suspects in that case? And if so, why haven't those been publicized as we saw in this other case? And has the same amount of police resources been spent on his death as the CEO's death?

Mayor Adams: The first and foremost, of the fact pattern that you just described about asking, did he speak English? That was not in any of the reports. That was not in any of the interviews because specifically ask the investigators and the commissioner. And that wasn't in any documentation or any of the interviews that took place.

Any loss is a huge, huge loss. And their aspect of that incident that is slightly different from what was reported and is currently receiving the necessary manpower to bring the person to justice. And we don't believe a loss of a death of innocent life should be ignored. But when you have a specifically targeted shooter, we didn't know if this person was going to carry out additional shootings. We didn't know if this person was a serial shooter. We didn't know what we had. We knew we had to take him off the streets of the city.

So, the urgency was not so much that was he a CEO in comparison to someone that's a low income New Yorker. No, it's not. We did not know what we had and what was going to be the extent of that. And as it was just mentioned, some of the preliminary reporting that the chief gave us is that he was showing a total appeared to be a distaste for corporate America. So we didn't know what was next. And we did the necessary decision to make sure we brought this person to justice and took him off the city, the streets of New York.

[Crosstalk.]

Question: So on the man believed to be the suspect here. One of the reasons why you guys got a good look at him is because he was able to pull his mask in the hostel. Just wondering if this is prompted you to renew your call to have people not wear masks when they go inside businesses.

My second question is, you said that you're gonna run as a democrat, but you said you're also a blue collar mayor. Do you feel like the Democratic Party [has] strayed away from its blue collar roots?

Mayor Adams: You know, last, I think it was last year, early this year, you know mayors dog years. We called to say when you go into businesses and establishment, ask people to temporarily remove their mask. We could, we can close these cases in hours when everyone will cooperate and just say temporarily pull down your mask. You don't have to permanently take it off. But once you get that video, once you get that picture, then you are in a good place.

And we're going to ask our Uber, Lyft, taxis, all of them to act the same. You get inside someone's taxi, someone's cab, someone's for hire vehicle, you should have that person pull down their mask so you can see who they are. And many of our vehicles have cameras inside that would assist us greatly to apprehend the person involved and send the information across the country. And so I will continue to advocate a very smart, simple way of having a great tool for, for law enforcement. And we want to continue to do that.

Question: And then the second question, you said that you're gonna run as a democrat-

Mayor Adams: I think that we are not doing a good job in speaking to working class people. And I've said this over and over again. And I said, pre election that our conversation is and must be as what we've attempted to do in this administration from housing to bring down the cost of childcare to all the other initiatives.

We wanted to speak to working class people. And that's what I hear from working class people every day. And while they are hurting, they don't want this intellectual conversation that I believe the party started to started to do. You look at what we did here in New York, of the minority leader in Congress, Hakeem Jeffries was able to secure many of his seats here because of those candidates, they were having a working class people conversation. And that's what I think the party needs to do.

Question: About the mask ban, I know that the governor has also been talking about pushing for a ban. Maybe in some ways you've talked about. Would you go to some kind of legal, [inaudible] something you present for City Council?

Mayor Adams: I think it's a combination from our preliminary review is a combination from the City Council and a combination from the state. We had a ban in place and it was removed after COVID. I think we need to re-examine having that put back in place. And I know the governor has voiced some interest in it. And I think that what we saw here, it is… maybe this would give the wind in the sail to bring this home. One thing is clear that, you know, thank God, this person didn't go out and harm other individuals. The longer he stayed on the streets, the more dangerous it could have been.

Question: Just wanted to clarify something. You talked about this last week too. Would you prefer to see an undocumented person who's accused of a violent crime… Would you prefer to see that person serve out their sentence before being handed over to federal authorities? Or would you be willing to hand them over to federal authorities before that verdict and before the sentencing is announced?

Mayor Adams: My desire is to give the member of the public who's the victim of that crime. They should serve their sentence. I want to hear what the border czar, what his ideas are, because justice is making sure that person served a sentence.

If that person commits a serious violent act and he's automatically cut loose, we could find that person back on our streets and you could find that person. Not every country would make sure that person serves out his time.

If there's a way to have an agreement that they serve out their time in that country, I can live with that. But I think a family member who lost a loved one who was viciously assaulted, who was harmed in serious ways, particularly our seven major crimes. They should get some sort of justice. And many of our borders and other countries lacks in ensuring that that person does not come back into our city.

Nothing would be more horrific that a person commits a serious crime and that person is immediately released without serving that time. And that family is not receiving the justice and they come back on our streets. That's why we have to secure our border.

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