Mayor Eric Adams pledged $5,000 of his own money as a reward leading to the arrest and indictment of people accused of vandalizing a statue and a war memorial during pro-Palestinian protests in Manhattan on Monday evening.
The NYPD said three people vandalized the General William Tecumseh Sherman monument at the southeast corner of Central Park during protests around the Met Gala around 8 p.m. on Monday. Officials also noted vandalism at another Central Park monument on the Upper East Side memorializing soldiers from World War I.
Adams said his award will be combined with $10,000 from NYPD and Crime Stoppers for a total of $15,000. In his latest tilt against protestors, Adams called the act “painful.”
“In spite of the unpopular notion that people don’t want to say it. I want to say it. I love America,” Adams said at a hastily arranged press conference on Tuesday afternoon.
After briefly extolling the right of protests and free speech, Adams pivoted to condemning the vandals as “cowards.”
“We will not tolerate chaos and disorder,” he said, “Even if those who are creating it claim to be doing so in the name of peace, we want you to bring your anger and passion to the protest, but don’t bring your hate. Don’t bring your violence and don’t bring your disorder.”
Adams has grown increasingly vocal against those protesting Israel’s military actions in Gaza since the Israel-Hamas war began in October, at times claiming without evidence that they are driven by outside agitators and are “exploiting” a recent settlement agreement between police and protestors.
Adams said the Parks Department immediately removed the majority of the graffiti, but that some still remained because of the statute’s porous texture. Adams also said the NYPD had some potential leads from social media, but declined to go into detail.