Eric Adams warns violent protesters in NYC: 'We will not allow you to destroy our city'

Eric Adams warned that New York City will respond harshly to protests against the Trump administration's immigration policy. Amid violent protests seen in Los Angeles, the mayor of NYC, who will seek re-election as an independent, assured that authorities will not allow protesters to destroy the city.

While the protests began in California, they have recently spread to other parts of the country, such as Chicago, Denver, Las Vegas, Atlanta, Philadelphia and Boston. Earlier this week, they reached the Big Apple.

As a result, the New York Police Department (NYPD) arrested 80 people, accused of throwing metal trash cans at federal immigration agents' vans and blocking the entrance to a building.

In this context, Adams was interviewed by Newsmax, where he remarked that they will continue to combat violence in the city's streets.

"Commissioner [Jessica] Tisch gave a very loud and clear message, we will allow peaceful protests, but we will not allow you to destroy our city or harm innocent people, and we will take action whenever that takes place," he said in an interview with journalist Greta Van Susteren.

Tisch, who took over as New York City Police Commissioner in November 2024, reinforced Adams' message during an interview with the "Good Day New York" program: "We want to maintain everyone’s right to protest peacefully in the city and in this country, but we will not tolerate chaos and disorder or violence, and when we saw people breaking the rule or breaking the law, we stepped in, made arrests swiftly," she said.

Turning to Adams, he differentiated between peaceful protesters and those who only seek to cause chaos in the streets.

"We know that there are those who travel our country, embed themselves into issues like antifa and others, and they have one goal in mind, and that is to provoke and to create disruption and disorder, particularly with our law enforcement community. We identify them immediately, remove them from the crowds, and take proper police practice when they cross the line," he added.

Adams also remarked that the officers participating in the operations undergo an "extensive level" of training.

"There are people who criticize these units, but we have to ignore the noise when it comes to public safety. Whatever equipment or training is needed, we will provide it. I will not take shortcuts and will keep our city safe," he concluded.