NYC Mayor Suggests Latest iPhone Is a Prerequisite for Civil Rights

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said on Wednesday that bystanders filming the police too closely “is not acceptable, and won’t be tolerated.”

When he won the Democratic nomination last summer, Adams was seen as a moderate. A former New York Police Department (NYPD) captain turned state senator, Adams rejected calls to defund the police at a time when the idea had gained currency on his party’s left flank. But Adams’ term in office has not been a civil libertarian’s dream. For example, despite criticizing the “stop and frisk” policies practiced under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Adams now plans to implement his own version.

On Wednesday, Adams appeared at the New York City Police Academy in Queens to announce his reintroduction of the NYPD’s controversial anti-gun unit. In response to a reporter’s question regarding citizens who want to “document what’s going on,” Adams responded forcefully:

“That is one thing that we are going to do: We are going to teach the public how to properly document…If an officer is trying to prevent a dispute from taking place and deescalate that dispute, they should [not] have someone standing over their shoulders with a camera in their face, yelling and screaming at them, without even realizing what the encounter is all about. There’s a proper way to police, and there’s a proper way to document…Stop being on top of my police officers while they’re carrying out their jobs. That is not acceptable, and it won’t be tolerated.”

Adams also added, “If your iPhone can’t catch that picture with you being at a safe distance, then you need to upgrade your iPhone.”

That last jab was likely intended to be tongue in cheek, but it fits with the overall patronizing tone of Adams’s answer, which implied that there is a right way and