More On:
ed mullins
Police union leader sues for permission to send profanity-laced tweets
A ‘new normal’ of criminality will outlast COVID unless NYC pols wise up
Chief Monahan: I took a knee with protesters who were ‘willing to not fight police’
NYPD union head refuses to apologize for calling lawmaker ‘first class whore’
The bombastic boss of the NYPD’s sergeants union — who is facing potential discipline after calling a lawmaker a “first class whore” and a city official a “b—h” — can stand trial over his offensive social media posts, a judge ruled Thursday.
Sgt. Ed Mullins, president of the Sergeants Benevolent Association, is facing three internal charges, two for offensive language and one for abuse of authority, over his incendiary social media posts.
Mullins sued for an injunction to stop the internal disciplinary process back in June, arguing “his speech was protected by the First Amendment and that he was speaking in his capacity as SBA President on a union platform.”
Lawyers for the city argued Thursday that the sergeant still must obey the patrol guide — even when acting in his role as union head.
Judge Vernon Broderick sided with the city and broadly dismissed Mullins’ argument, saying that potential suspension or firing does not constitute “irreparable harm.”
Broderick added that he saw no evidence that the probes had caused “the SBA messaging” to “become diluted” as the union has continued to tweet at the mayor, calling him “an idiot.”
In one of the tweets in question, Mullins referred to then-congressional candidate and City Councilman Ritchie Torres a “first class whore” in September. That tweet has since been deleted.
The post was in response to Torres’ press conference, with now-Democratic mayoral nominee Eric Adams calling for an investigation into whether cops were participating in a slowdown.
Months earlier, Mullins called health commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot a “b—h” after news broke that she had remarked to retired NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan, “I don’t give two rats’ asses about your cops” over his request for more masks during the first wave of the coronavirus.
Mullins also tweeted an image of 25-year-old Chiara de Blasio’s arrest report during the George Floyd protests.
The civilian watchdog recommended in February that three internal charges be brought against the union head, which could result in up to a two-month discipline.
Share this article:
Source: Read Full Article