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Hawk Newsome vs Martha MacCallum: BLM leader slammed for 'White privilege' comment

The BLM leader has opposed the planned reinstatement of plainclothes units to the NYPD once Eric Adams takes office as the city's mayor

New York Black Lives Matter co-founder Hawk Newsome has been criticized heavily on the internet after he had a heated argument with Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum over planned reinstatement of plainclothes units to the NYPD once Eric Adams takes office as the city's mayor after the new year. During his Friday, December 10, appearance on Fox News, Newsome first targeted Adams and accused him of trying to score political brownie points before slamming the journalist for her “white privilege” when she sided with the soon-to-be-mayor’s plan and also spoke about rising crime in the city.

The law school graduate said, “The mayor is engaging in a political circus. And my parents didn't raise a clown. So, I'm not here to play these circus-type political games with him. Look at what happened after we engaged in this back and forth. He was on (Stephen) Colbert, he was on Anderson Cooper, he was on Bill Maher. I made him famous, right, for this spat we had. And if the mayor truly cared about what's best for the city, he would've talked about the things we agreed upon in that meeting. But didn't want to discuss that, Martha. He just wants the hype and the attention.”

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Reportedly, the mayor-elect – a former NYPD captain – previously said that soon after joining the office he will reintroduce the controversial anti-crime units to control violent crimes in the city. “This is what I'm going to do. That was my promise and I'm going to keep it,” he said in November. But Newsome completely opposed the idea and warned of riots and bloodshed if it happened. “There will be riots. There will be fire, and there will be bloodshed. I am not threatening anyone. I am just saying that it's a natural response to aggressive oppression, people will react,” he stated.

MacCallum then defended Adams’ plan and mentioned that after Mayor Bill de Blasio dissolved the undercover unit, the crime rate in New York has escalated. But Newsome reacted by saying, “People are starving.” And when MacCallum pointed out that “people need to be safe, Hawk. They need to know that the police are gonna have their backs", the BLM leader said, “People need jobs and opportunity.”

Then MacCallum remarked, “Absolutely, do what you can to keep the kids safe and let the police officers go out and keep those same kids safe. They're dying at the hands of gangs.” But Newsome was in no mood to agree with her and fired back, “The things that he's saying, precision policing, focusing on gangs, these are all things that de Blasio said. Crime isn't just up in New York City. It's up around the country, so what is he going to do that's different other than talk?”

MacCallum noted, “The purpose of this unit that he wants to put back on the street was to clean up illegal guns, violence, and hard drugs on the street. So I'm asking you, what is wrong with putting this unit back on the street if it keeps children of New York City and adults safer?” To which Newsome responded: “Ok, there's this thing called the Constitution. The Fourth Amendment protects us against illegal search and seizure. Secondly, this unit has been responsible for the most high-profile deaths in the city. He isn't saying what he's going to do differently.”

Newsome then went on to share his personal experience. He said, “You don't know what it's like, you don't know what it's like to be pulled over and thrown up against walls.” MacCallum replied, “No, I don't. I will cede that to you.” Newsome then claimed, “You live from a place of White privilege, where you don't …”

The reporter explained, “Come on, don't throw that at me! You know what? I want this whole city of people of every background, faith, color to be safer. What I see on the street is that, not what is happening since this unit was disbanded.”

Meanwhile, several people took to Twitter to slam Newsome as a user tweeted, “Nothing worse than a whining BLM activist.” The second one wrote, “What are you doing for all of the citizens who businesses were destroyed by the BLM rioting and setting fire to their cities in 2020? Your hypocrisy is Amazing!” “And instead of all these blm bullshit why don’t you try to encourage black kids to go to school and learn something and that they need to work hard to get things and to have a good life not to steal them! Fuck blm! You mother fuckers are the most racist animals in this country,” the third user noted.