The transfer of an NYPD captain after the virus shortage shows that City Hall has two rules for Dems and Republicans: critics.
The NYPD captain who was relegated to an unpopular role after being caught on video insulting NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani as a “disgrace” has become a real folk hero with an army of supporters backing him for speaking out about a radical socialist.
Republican politicians and other conservatives of the highest order now take up the cause of Captain James G. Wilson, and defend his Constitutional rights.
They say the department’s decision to move Wilson from 94th Precinct in Brooklyn – where he works as the second-highest officer at the Greenpoint station – at the NYPD’s 911 call center in the Bronx is the latest example that City Hall has two sets of rules: one for comrades on the far left and one for everyone.
“If Captain Wilson had said something negative about Donald Trump, he would have been declared a hero and received a medal and dinner at Gracie Mansion,” said Councilwoman Joann Ariola (R-Queens).
“But since he spoke out against Dear Leader Mamdani, the provocation machine kicks in, and radicals come out of the woods to silence all public opposition. This is what they are doing, but many New Yorkers are starting to see through the lens and see what is really going on.”
Assembly Minority Leader David Carr (R-Staten Island) agreed, saying, “We’ve heard city workers make disparaging remarks about our president, sometimes Republicans or conservatives and all groups of New Yorkers, with no results.”
“Even if the policy prohibiting political speech by government employees is in line with the Constitution, it sure as hell isn’t being used properly or consistently,” he said.
Wilson was caught on video insulting Mamdani during a violent protest last week outside a Bushwick hospital.
He also faces possible disciplinary action for violating an NYPD policy that prohibits officers from expressing their views on a political party while on duty.
“He’s useful, he’s temporary,” Wilson said in the video, when protesters pressed him and pointed at Mamdani, his boss.
“No, he’s bullshit. He’s a disgrace and a total jerk,” Wilson scoffed, cracking a smile. “Not my mayor.”
A smiling Wilson later in the clip continues to dismiss all Democrats as “a waste of people.”
The video emerged as one of many controversies surrounding the May 2 protest outside Wyckoff Heights Medical Center, where anti-ICE protesters got wind of immigration taking an illegal Nigerian immigrant for medical care.
Wilson shouldn’t be stripped of his First Amendment rights just because he’s a police officer, a top NYPD source said.
“Mamdani’s history shows that he does not believe in police work,” said the source.
“Why is a police officer any different than anyone else? He has First Amendment rights.
“He was there doing his job, and he was being recorded. That’s their First Amendment right, but what about his First Amendment rights?”
Attorneys representing Councilwoman Vickie Paladino (R-Queens) in her free speech lawsuit also argued Republicans and Dems are being treated differently at City Hall.
Paladino has faced criticism for allegedly Islamophobic remarks, but his lawyers say some of his Democratic colleagues have a history of raging without consequence at white people and painting their enemies — including President Trump, Republicans and the NYPD — as “white” and “racist.”
Mamdani told reporters on Wednesday that he had seen the video but was “not involved” in Wilson’s transfer — and neither was my City Hall.
“My understanding is that the decision was made in accordance with the NYPD’s administrative guidelines,” he said.
The NYPD said Wilson’s disciplinary process is “ongoing.”
