New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio insisted Monday that his 25-year-old daughter was “peacefully protesting” and “not doing anything that would provoke a negative response” when she was arrested late Saturday night during demonstrations against the death of George Floyd.
Chiara de Blasio was taken into custody in Manhattan after allegedly blocking traffic and then refusing to move, law enforcement sources told the New York Post.
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Yet De Blasio said when he and his wife Chirlane asked their daughter to explain the situation, she shared a different story.
“She was very clear that she believed she was following the instructions of police officers and doing what they were asking,” de Blasio told reporters.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and his daughter Chiara in 2015. (Reuters)
“Absolutely she was abundantly clear — she was peacefully protesting, not doing anything that would provoke a negative response,” he added.
New York City was hit hard by looters Sunday night who targeted high-end retail stores and left a trail of destruction in their wake.
De Blasio said he wasn’t aware of his daughter’s arrest until a member of the media sent an inquiry to his office seeking his comment.
“It’s a reality that every parent faces — that you never know when your kids become adults, how they are going to go about their lives,” he said. “Sometimes you get surprises.”
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The mayor said Chiara had participated in a peaceful protest a few nights before her arrest.
“And when I found out she had been arrested, I finally reached her with Chirlane and I asked her recount the whole story and look – I love my daughter deeply, I honor her. She is such a good human being. She only wants to do good in the world,” he continued. “She wants to see a better and more peaceful world. She believes a lot of change is needed. I’m proud of her that she cares so much and that she was willing to go out there and do something about it.”
However, a law enforcement source that spoke to the New York Post described the scene where Ciara was arrested as being a “real hotspot” where police cars were getting burned and “people were throwing and yelling, fighting with cops.”
“There were thousands of people in that area at that time,” the source added, describing how officers declared the scene an unlawful assembly.
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People grab items inside a pharmacy that had its windows broken in New York City early Monday. (AP)
Upon arrest, Chiara listed her address as being the mayor’s mansion – but did not tell police that she was de Blasio’s daughter, the sources added.
She was given a desk appearance ticket – and the arrest happened an hour before her father told demonstrators during a late-night press conference to “go home,” the New York Post reports.
The NYPD Sergeant’s Benevolent Association union, which has been a longtime critic of de Blasio, tweeted out Chiara’s arrest report. The tweet reportedly contained her personal information, but Twitter ended up taking it down for violating its terms of service.
“How can the NYPD protect the city of NY from rioting anarchist when the Mayors object throwing daughter is one of them,” the now-deleted tweet read. “Now we know why he is forbidding Mounted units to be mobilized and keeping the NYPD from doing their jobs.”
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De Blasio ripped the tweet Monday as being “unconscionable.”
“Police unions could be part of the change and the improvement in this city and this country,” he said. “They really should re-evaluate what they are doing at this moment in history.”
