Apparently New Yorkers want to feel safe from the surge in subway crime in Metropolis, but the sight of big, scary rifles in the hands of those sent to protect them is just a little too much. As a result, New York Governor Kathy Hochul has directed the National Guard to cease carrying long guns while conducting bag checks in the NYC subway system. Perhaps rather than worrying about what firearm they are carrying; straphangers should be more worried about the 4th Amendment violations taking place with the searches of their bags.
But that part apparently doesn’t register.
“While it is certainly a relief that the National Guard’s long rifles will not be present underground, treating our subway system like a war zone remains an unnecessary overreaction based on fear, not facts,” Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, told AMNY. And then she couldn’t stop with that concern, she had to make sure she gave it the required progressive spin.
“Deploying military personnel to the subways will not make New Yorkers feel safe; it will, unfortunately, create a perfect storm for tension, escalation, and further criminalization of Black and Brown New Yorkers,” she said. Ah yes, the race card. But she left out climate change! Amateur!
Anyway, we digress, sort of like Lieberman did. Hochul’s directive comes in response to widespread criticism of the militarization of the subway following the deployment of 750 National Guardsmen to assist with security measures amidst rising subway crime rates. The move, initially intended to enhance safety, had sparked debate among city officials, law enforcement and the public.
The decision to ban military-grade rifles was confirmed by a spokesperson for Governor Hochul, emphasizing that the change was implemented “immediately after” the deployment began last week. Despite the adjustment, soldiers will continue to carry weapons at major transit hubs like Grand Central and Penn Station, where they consistently have since the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.
No word on if the guns that they are carrying are actually loaded or not. Maybe each soldier is only allowed one bullet like Barney Fife in the old Andy Griffith Show.
Of course, even the cops are annoyed at the encroachment on their turf. Critics of the initial deployment, including NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell and former Police Commissioner Bernie Kerik, have accused the governor of treating the subway system like a “war zone” and undermining the expertise of the NYPD.
But Hochul remained firm, defending the deployment as a measure to address the “crisis” of rising subway crime, which saw a 13% increase in major crimes in 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, including high-profile incidents of violence. She stressed that the presence of the National Guard is meant to serve as a deterrent and to supplement the efforts of the NYPD in making the subway system feel safer for commuters.
But maybe they should actually enforce the laws they have on the books that worked well to clean up New York City and make it a safe place for residents and tourists alike under Mayor Rudy Giuliani through much of the 1990s. While the former mayor has become a bit of a sweaty, dripping hair-dyed caricature of himself to today’s generation, to anyone who visited New York before he was mayor and after he was mayor know what a cesspool of crime and debauchery the city was prior to him taking office and how it was after.
But some lessons are never learned, and even now, the criminals don’t seem to be too distraught over Hochul’s theater.
Despite the governor’s reassurances, the decision to deploy the National Guard in the subway has faced opposition from civil liberties organizations. The New York Civil Liberties Union, through its executive director Donna Lieberman, criticized the move as an overreaction based on fear rather than facts, arguing that it could exacerbate tensions and lead to the further criminalization of marginalized communities.
In response to the controversy, Governor Hochul has reiterated her commitment to ensuring the safety of subway riders without creating undue fear or anxiety. The National Guard’s role in the subway will now be limited to bag checks without the visible presence of long guns, a change that has been welcomed by some commuters who support the idea of enhanced security but questioned the necessity of such heavy weaponry in a crowded public space.
As New York City continues to grapple with the challenge of maintaining public safety while respecting the concerns of its citizens, the adjustments to the National Guard’s deployment in the subway system reflect an ongoing dialogue about the most effective and appropriate ways to ensure security in one of the world’s busiest transit systems.
As if anything the government does is not an overreaction based on fear not facts?
They have a working model of how to fix the problem. The citizens of NY prefer the problem to the solution. Have at it.
Haven’t been down to NYC for around 5 years and with bail reform likely to stay probably will not bother. Good luck to those that have to live and work there for any number of reasons and do what you can to keep yourselves safe as between the mayor and the governor you are very much not the priority of those in charge.
Those committing crimes on the subway are those that have already committed crimes elsewhere in the city and are already known to the NYPD. The time to prevent the subway crime passed when you let them return to the street. So every New Yorker suffers the penalty of encroachment on their constitutional rights because of the acts of criminals and politicians.
I often ride the subway and am in NYC every day (Im writing this from a NYC courthouse) but reside in a slightly less restricted (thanks to Bruen) suburban county. When my City friends start complaining about having their 4th amendment rights I will say in my John McClain face “welcome to the party pal.”
Can’t go full McClain in my current position but do point out how many policies are driving away the tax base everything we depend on in this state is funded by may be an issue. Some are slowly getting it but I would expect most of them to turn the moment we get another federal bailout.
“do point out how many policies are driving away the tax base everything we depend on in this state”
lMO – The ones driving this insane train have no good intentions for anything you depend on. If you have their nuts in a vise, they might pretend, but many have none these days, and the vise is being mooted by hordes of foreign nationals weighting the electoral college.
Let’s see…nyc citizens are mostly unarmed, the NG is partially unarmed. Advantage criminals…
https://youtube.com/watch?v=10OoccK7dIw&feature=shared
The National Guard “is supposed to serve as a deterrent”…but away the scary guns? That doesn’t quite make sense
*put away the scary guns
“Black and brown” people dont like long guns? This is news to me.
Sounds like quite the generalization as well
Wait, the enforcement of laws is what is making these communities into criminals? I thought that a criminal is a criminal, regardless of what community they claim to be a part of. It doesn’t matter what the color of a criminal’s skin might be, the action, not the pigmentation is the determining factor of a crime.
March 12, 2024 At 11:02 Your comment is awaiting moderation
IMO – The ones driving this insane train have no good intentions for anything you depend on. If you have their nuts in a vise, they might pretend, but many have none these days, and the vise is mooted by hordes of foreign nationals weighting the electoral college.
Misplaced post, sorry…
Typical Dem response to a crisis created by their own making.
quote————Perhaps rather than worrying about what firearm they are carrying; straphangers should be more worried about the 4th Amendment violations taking place with the searches of their bags.———-quote
Pure idiocy, what are we supposed to do let every criminal and nut case board the train with guns and knives.
quote————–“While it is certainly a relief that the National Guard’s long rifles will not be present underground, treating our subway system like a war zone remains an unnecessary overreaction based on fear, not facts,”———quote
In reality the rampant rising crime forced New York to do something about it. The Far Right scream “Do nothing and maybe the problem will just go away”.
quote————-Of course, even the cops are annoyed at the encroachment on their turf. Critics of the initial deployment, including NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell and former Police Commissioner Bernie Kerik, have accused the governor of treating the subway system like a “war zone” and undermining the expertise of the NYPD———-quote
The NYPD had their chance and failed big time. The only people they bullied and terrorized were ordinary citizens, they were too cowardly to take on the real criminals.
The paranoid Far Right are in a panic because they know that when the American people see and understand how bad the situation really is that there will be more calls for commons sense gun control at the Federal Level which is the only way to deal with the situation, not at the State Level because too many fanatical Hillbilly States have lax gun laws which lets gun runners via the “Iron Pipe Line” ship in all the guns they want into States with tough and sane gun laws making those gun laws ineffective.
1 they have always done so and still do as the criminals will just go to the next station if they want weapons for the ride
2 nothing is being done this is about the level of post 9/11 security theater
3 the criminals they were racist to hassle lol no
Closing
Nothing to get one’s blood pressure elevated for this is a expected outcome of bail and sentence reform and the “iron pipeline” is allowed if not encouraged by the ATF not going after straw purchases that supply the gangs as that would be potentially racist and/or get them shot at.
Anything else there Jerry or do you have actual arguments this time?
You could not be more wrong. No surprise there.
It has been failed Democrat policies that have made crime rise in NYC. Failed policies like no cash bail, defund the police, soft on crime DAs, strict gun laws that punish the average citizen.
The police are so stretched thin from the defund the police movement, gov Houchel had to bring in the NG. Then gets worried when those same NG are actually armed with long guns.
If NYC had more armed law abiding citizens, reinstated cash bail, had tough on crime DAs, crime would be much lower.
All of this is the result of lawless Dems who prioritize socialist thinking like DEI, protecting the rights of criminals, rather then rule of law and protecting law abiding citizens.
“The Far Right scream…”
Methinks you are looking in a mirror, and you have your hands mixed up.
dacian, come on upstairs and have your meds and supper… you’re not bothering people outside of the asylum again, are you?
And there it is, we’ve come full circle. A leftists are making the same exact arguments that were made by Republicans post 9/11 to justify the Patriot Act and more local policies such as ‘Stop & Frisk’. What a soulless clown you are, you’ve never even had a opinion or ideal of your own. There’s no possible way I could live in the same body-politic with people such as yourself, you’ve become truly dangerous to Civil Society and the cause of Liberty.
This is all the more worrisome because while most of these national guardsman might be qualified with a rifle, few have qualified with a pistol. I also haven’t seen any holstered pistols in news coverage. One must presume that the guardsman have been disarmed.
Even more worrisome is the precedent set by the malicious persecution of Daniel Penny:
https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2024/01/17/judge-declines-to-dismiss-case-against-marine-vet-in-nyc-subway-death/
No National Guardsman who has half a brain will willingly risk such persecution to save a New Yorker.
Of course the obvious violation of their Fourth Amendment right to not be subjected to unreasonable search and seizure is exactly what they deserve.
Any MP sent would be pistol as primary weapon……….and likely not issued ammo if even allowed to bring the pistol unless something changed in the last two decades of such deployments. Rest of your post is spot on for most domestic tasks I ever got assigned to post Trayvon especially the questionable constitutional issues.
most national guardsman are not MPs
That’s part b and yes the guardsman at best would have funny shaped clubs for this kind of deployment (no ammo with rifle) but NY being NY they will not have those either. At most knives and concealable weapons that they would catch hell if found with or had to use. Honestly same as the riot and storm deployments/training I saw in PA.
Oh they’ll kick the NG out the first time they “save” a New Yorker
The problem with libertarians liberals and the left is, that “they like the sausage.”
But “they don’t like how” the sausage is made. And they “don’t want to see” the sausage being made.
They just want to see the sausage.
And that’s what law enforcement is like. People want law enforcement. But only walking around the streets doing nothing. Or driving around on their cars, and not stopping anybody.
But as soon as law enforcement has to do it’s job. Then the L’s 3 will complain.
They’ll call them racist. They will call them bigots. They’ll call them h 0 m0 phobic.They’ll call them intolerant.
They only want to see police. They don’t want to see the police doing their job.
Law enforcement has always involved the extreme use of violence. Because sometimes it’s necessary. For the safety of the officer. And for the safety of the general public.
As I said previously on TTAG. We will always have law enforcement. The only question is. What form will that law enforcement take??
Anyone who has called for the defunding of the police. Or who supported the people, who called for defunding the police.
Those are the ones that have brought about the situation. Where there is now “a standing army” providing law enforcement, to a major city in America.
And this wasn’t caused by an act of god such as a hurricane.
This was caused by the bad acts of men.
All the troubles that went on in 2020. President Trump refused to use federal troops, to stop the rioting, to stop the violence.
And I am grateful that President Trump did not use federal troops to solve a local crime problem.
But the libertarians, the liberals and the left. All they care about is legal butt sex and drugs.
They want the local police defunded. They will be very comfortable slaves in New York State.
btw
Everybody should remember that the national guard, can easily be nationalized. By the sitting president joe biden.
And for those keeping score. I have said in the past. Go ahead, defund the police. And see what happens. You stupid morons.
Most of these people don’t even live in the major cities. They live far away. In some rural area. Down a twisting winding road. Far away from all the policies they support.
They’re “champagne s0ci @lists,” or you could call them “champagne libertarians.”
Thry can certainly afford all of these policies. The rest of society can’t.
Have to wonder what proportion of violent criminals carry their illegal gun or knife in a bag, rather than worn somewhere on their body. Appears to be security theater, and arming the actors with long guns was too scary for some of the audience.
NY has a tradition of lighting money on fire to “solve” problems.
Where is the constitutional authority to search bags without a warrant or even probable cause? The ACLU isn’t upset about this? If not, why not?
Where were they throughout the Covid madness? They have their marching orders and what topics to avoid and this may be one of them.
The ACLU is a com munist organization. Look up their history. Look up the people who founded it. The people who manage and run it. They’re all old communists from the 1920s and 1930s.
They have never supported the Bill of Rights. The leadership of the ACLU publicly supported the internment of japanese american citizens. And all the other race and ethnic groups.The United States was at war with during the second world war.
A member of the ACLU border directors. Co wrote the most racist modern day gun control law, in the United States.
The Mulford Act.
In Los Angeles, the local leadership of the ACLU, publicly supported the police. When they were breaking the bones of peaceful anti-abortion protesters. In the early 1980s.
People were fools, uneducated fools, when they donated money to the ACLU.
Why the worry, the gunms ain’t loaded anyway.
If at all present this is the overwhelmingly likely situation.
fyi
When the california national guard was deployed to Los Angeles during the Rodney King riots. They shot gangsters who shot at them. But there was “no proof” this was done.
Because the solders deployed with their own private ammo.
I assume they didn’t have much faith in the california leadership. Civilian or military.
As to being deprived of their rifles, I am certain they aren’t allowed to have ammunition and a rifle makes a poor club. Better a poor club than having nothing at all.
I suspect the National Guard in NY will have a major recruitment problem after this. I am mystified as to why anyone would join any of the military branches when they are run by a Joint Chiefs that puts DEI before readiness, competence, and merit which seems to have become the case over the last dozen years or more. Of course the current .mil is wonderful if you happen to be a tr@n ney who wants the government to pay for your alterations.
Welp, You jus cant fix stupid.
“No Oath Keepers.”
“We want the national guard to provide our government approved security.”
I assure everyone. This is just theater anyway. These guardsmen have no ammo anyway. I’d bet my lifesavings.
If you’re a “government employee?” Also known as a member of the National Guard. You can get a carry permit and buy ammo in NY State. No problem.
Then you can have your “personal ammo” with you. While on duty.
Depends on how strict your unit commissar is and even then on duty there are typically all kinds of fun restrictions relegating your proposal to don’t get caught and be prepared for years of pain if you do.
When a national guard soldier gets killed. Just like a police officer gets killed. We will see if the soldiers start to bring their own ammo.
When a cop or a soldier is only carrying their side arm. Then against a criminal with a handgun. Then it’s an “even steven” fight.
But if the criminal has a glock switch??? Then perhaps it won’t be an even fight after all.
Realistically if a guard soldier gets killed the guard will either be withdrawn and other measures enacted or with this being NY the same SOP with extra checks to ensure compliance. Not saying you are wrong on the individual actions of smarter soldiers but it is a very different military from what most people think of/remember pre 9/11 and especially before Obama.
^Different Dude. Not saying you’re wrong.
This is just another gesture the dim bulbs on the left are making because it’s an election year. You know they be sceered when effbeeeye and ceeyiyay are coming out and admitting muzzie terroriztz are here and getting ready to act. Haven’t seen the head of the cartelz Mayorkus warning us cuz he don’t give a ratz fuzzy a$$ what happens next. I hope and pray voters see through all this BS and choose accordingly. (not gonna hold my breath)
That magical talisman you’re wearing. That well pressed well fitted government uniform. That is what I supposed to protect you. Not the gun as your side arm.
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