NYPD apologizes for raid that led to Stonewall riots
“While I’m certainly not going to stand up here and pretend to be an expert on what happened at Stonewall, I do know that what happened should not have happened,” O’Neill said. “The actions taken by the NYPD were wrong, plain and simple. The actions and the laws were discriminatory and oppressive and for that I apologize.”
It’s the first time an NYPD commissioner has apologized for the department’s actions leading up to the riots.
More than 6 million people are expected to participate in Pride Month events this year. In addition to the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, an international celebration of LGBTQ rights known as World Pride is coming to New York.
The NYPD held its first-ever security briefing for the celebration on Thursday. It comes as police have seen a 30% jump in hate crimes based on sexual orientation this year. This past weekend, two rainbow flags were set on fire at a bar in Harlem. Police are still looking for the suspect.
Officials said there were no credible threats against the city’s annual Pride parade.
“I want nothing to detract from this inspiring celebration,” O’Neill said. “The NYPD takes all forms of bias seriously, because we will never tolerate hate of any kind on our city’s communities.”
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