FBI raids offices of New York City police sergeants union

3 years ago 225

NEW YORK – Federal agents raided the offices Tuesday of a New York City constabulary union, the Sergeants Benevolent Association, and the Long Island location of its bombastic leader, who has clashed with metropolis officials implicit his incendiary tweets and hard-line tactics.

FBI spokesperson Martin Feely said agents were “carrying retired a instrumentality enforcement enactment successful transportation with an ongoing investigation."

Agents were seen carrying boxes retired of the union’s Manhattan office and loading them into a van. The FBI besides searched national president Ed Mullins' location successful Port Washington, Long Island, Feely said.

Messages seeking remark were near with Mullins and the union, which represents astir 13,000 progressive and retired NYPD sergeants and controls a $264 cardinal status fund.

Calls to Mullins' cellphone went to a afloat voicemail box.

Mullins, a constabulary sergeant detached to full-time national work, is successful the mediate of section disciplinary proceedings for tweeting NYPD paperwork past twelvemonth regarding the apprehension of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s girl during protests implicit the Minneapolis constabulary sidesplitting of George Floyd.

Mullins’ section proceedings began past period but was postponed indefinitely aft 1 of his lawyers suffered a aesculapian emergency.

Mullins’ lawyer denies helium violated section guidelines, arguing apprehension papers with Chiara de Blasio’s idiosyncratic identifying information, specified arsenic her day of commencement and address, were already posted online.

Mullins is besides suing the department, claiming they were trying to muzzle him by grilling him and recommending disciplinary enactment implicit his online missives, which person included claims that officers were astatine warfare with metropolis leaders.

Asked astir the raid Tuesday, Mayor de Blasio told reporters helium didn’t person capable accusation to comment.

“I deliberation he’s been a divisive voice,” de Blasio said of Mullins. “But that doesn’t origin maine to consciousness thing successful this concern due to the fact that I don’t cognize what’s happening. All I perceive is an FBI raid. I don’t cognize the specifics, I don’t cognize who it’s directed at. I privation to truly perceive the details earlier I remark further.”

The Sergeants Benevolent Association runs a Widows and Children’s Fund, a assistance money for members’ children, and Blue Christmas, which distributes toys to needy children.

Mullins, a constabulary serviceman since 1982, roseate to sergeant, a fertile supra detective but beneath skipper and lieutenant, successful 1993 and was elected president of the sergeants national successful 2002.

Under Mullins' leadership, the national has fought for amended wage — with contracts resulting successful wage increases of 40% — and staked a salient presumption successful the anti-reform movement.

Though he's a full-time national chief, metropolis instrumentality has allowed Mullins to clasp his sergeant's presumption and cod salaries from some the national and the constabulary department. Last year, Mullins made much than $220,000 betwixt the two, according to nationalist records: $88,757 from the national and $133,195 from the NYPD.

The NYPD referred questions astir Mullins to the FBI.

Along with Mullins' periodic appearances connected cablegram networks similar Fox News and Newsmax — including 1 successful which helium was pictured successful beforehand of a QAnon mug — possibly the union’s astir almighty megaphone is its 45,000-follower Twitter account, which Mullins runs himself, often to fiery effect.

In 2018, amid a rash of incidents successful which constabulary officers were doused with water, Mullins suggested it was clip for then-Commissioner James O’Neill and Chief of Department Terence Monahan to “consider different profession” and tweeted that “O’KNEEL indispensable go!”

O’Neill retorted that Mullins was “a spot of a keyboard gangster” who seldom showed up to section functions.

Last year, Mullins came nether occurrence for tweets calling the city’s erstwhile Health Commissioner, Dr. Oxiris Barbot, a “b——” and U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres a “first-class whore.”

Mullins was upset implicit reports Barbot refused to springiness look masks to constabulary successful the aboriginal days of the pandemic and aggravated with Torres’ calls for an probe into a imaginable constabulary enactment slowdown successful September 2020.

Torres, who is gay, denounced Mullins’ tweet arsenic homophobic.

On Tuesday, Torres referenced that tweet successful reacting to the quality of the raid, writing: “Ed Mullins, who famously called maine a ‘first-class whore’ for daring to inquire questions astir the @SBANYPD, conscionable got a first-class raid from the FBI.”

In 2019, it wasn’t tweets that got Mullins successful trouble, but alternatively comments helium made successful a vigor interrogation suggesting that slain Barnard College pupil Tessa Majors had gone to the parkland wherever she was killed to bargain marijuana. Police aboriginal arrested 3 teens, saying she’d been stabbed during an attempted robbery.

Majors’ household called Mullins’ remarks connected the vigor amusement “deeply inappropriate” unfortunate blaming and urged him “not to prosecute successful specified irresponsible nationalist speculation.”

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Associated Press reporters Karen Matthews and Tom Hays contributed to this report. Follow Michael Sisak connected Twitter astatine twitter.com/mikesisak

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