Mayor Bill de Blasio spoke out today (June 1) about the Sergeants Benevolent Association sharing his daughter’s personal information on Twitter following her arrest at a protest.
It’s being widely reported that over 1,000 people were arrested over the weekend across various American cities as protests erupted, but there was one name that caused quite the controversy. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has come forward to speak out about his daughter’s personal information being shared on Twitter by the Sergeants Benevolent Association union. The organization to their Twitter account to report that Chiara de Blasio, the mayor’s 25-year-old daughter, was arrested during a protest on Saturday (May 30).
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In an illegal move, The New York Times reports that the police union shared documents related to Chaira de Blasio and her arrest, along with “personal details, including her height, weight, address, date birth and driver’s license information.” Twitter later removed the post as it violated their rules. Then, the social media network “temporarily locked” the union’s account for “doxxing.”
The union, in their deleted Twitter post, reportedly questioned how the New York Police Department could protect the city from “rioting anarchists” when “the mayor’s object-throwing daughter is one them.” The mayor stated his daughter was engaging in a peaceful protest and wasn’t involved in any rioting or looting in the area. However, because she was asked to leave the area and refused, she was taken into custody.
Edward D. Mullins, the president the Sergeants Benevolent Association, defended the tweet. “The message was that cops are being pelted with rocks, cars are being set on fire and our police department is being held back,” Mr. Mullins said. “Is that why you’re tying our hands, because your daughter is out there?” Mr. Mullins said. “This needs to be looked at.”
On Monday (June 1), Mayor Bill de Blasio responded by saying, “The S.B.A. did something unconscionable, and it’s not just because it’s my daughter. They do this all the time with people’s privacy.” He continued, “When they leak information on someone, it’s absolutely inappropriate, but I’m not going to tell you that it’s only happening to my child, it’s happening to people every single day.”