Brian Laird on WNYC in our spring membership drive.

And now we return to our weekly reporters as the mayor segment in which we've been hosting on on wednesday's hour lead eric adams reporter

elizabeth kim as many of you know she covers the mayor's weekly tuesday news conferences

hi liz happy wed good morning brian and let's start off with the question to the mayor yesterday

or one of them about the pro--Palestine protests in Bay Ridge

last Saturday, where the police arrested 41 people, but police behavior has become an issue.

One of the videos from there has gone viral. It shows an NYPD officer repeatedly punching a protester in the face.

So Mayor Adams was asked about the conduct of officers during the press conference yesterday,

and here's what he had to say.

We are a firm believer in the right to protest, even if I don't like it.

I don't like calling for death to America. I don't like the destruction of it.

I don't like Hamas flag, which is a murderous,

despicable terrorist group.

I don't like seeing that flag flying.

But you know what, this is the country.

You have a right to do that. You don't have

the right to spit in the face of police officers. You don't have the right to ride on top of a bus.

You don't have a right to stop the flow of traffic when emergency calls of service from those who live

in that community. You don't have a right to disobey the rules. You were told to get on a sidewalk. You were told to do it in a peaceful way. I saw those videos. Now, if officers

use more force than necessary, we're going to do an investigation. But the countless number of

police officers who were there acted accordingly. And just a little bit more from the mayor, just a little bit after that to

complete the thought. I saw those videos and those videos are watching people spit in the face of

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