The founders of New York City-based pro-police groups who deserve officials for their right to paint their own mural said Wednesday that they hope to be allowed to commemorate their heroes and stress that it is only fair that they make their first amendment can rightly express by doing so.
‘People came to Ellis Island because this was the hub. This is where the American dream began. This is where, no matter what it looked like or how much money was in your pocket, you had the opportunity to start a new life, whether it was to work for one or have five jobs, ”said Joe Imperatrice, founder of Blue Lives Matter NYC, told Fox News. ‘You had the opportunity, no matter who you were, to advance yourself. And these politicians have forgotten that. They are put on a pedestal in certain groups – and it looks like radical groups. ”
WOMAN ARRESTED BY DEFACING BLACK LIVES MATER MURAL OUTSIDE TRUMP TOWER
Imperatrice expressed similar sentiments earlier on Thursday during a segment on Fox & Friends, where he and co-founders Standing Up for NYC, Tatianna Davidoff, and Jason Cohen, filed their recent lawsuit against incumbent New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Department of Transport Commissioner Polly Trottenberg.
Spokesmen for the Blasio and Trottenberg declined to comment on the pending lawsuit.
The lawsuit accuses officials of violating their First Amendment law by refusing their request to paint a mural in lower Manhattan to honor the more than 30 police officers who were fatally hit in the line of duty this year.
Blue Lives Matter NYC and Standing Up for NYC “requested to paint a mural of ‘Blue Lives Matter’ by One Police Plaza, similar to the ‘Black Lives Matter’ murals approved by defenders and painted by Defendant de Blasio for the Trump Tower, ‘the lawsuit states, noting that the city has also allowed the seven other murals of’ Black Lives Matter ‘across the five districts.
NEW YORK, NY – JULY 13: A black living Matter mural that was painted on 5th Avenue will be seen directly in front of Trump Tower on July 13, 2020 in New York City. (David Dee Delgado / Getty Images)
But according to the suit, the city was allowed to bypass the formal application process and receive a departmental transportation “the factor permits” for each of the eight murals.
The Blasio and Trottenberg ‘opened a forum for political speech for the Trump Tower and seven other city locations by approving the political message’ Black Lives Matter ‘ [be] painted on city streets otherwise strictly limited to message-related messages, ”the lawsuit states. “Once defenders have opened a forum for one, you should open that forum to everyone… The Blasio and Trottenberg have allowed city ownership to be used by private speakers according to rules prescribed by the defenders. Under the First Amendment, however, these rules cannot discriminate on the basis of point of view. But, that’s exactly what defenders have done here. ”
CALIFORNIA CITY WASHES AWAY BLM MURAL AFTER TRUMP SUPPORTER REQUEST ‘MAGA 2020’ DISPLAY
During a City Hall press conference in late July, the Democratic mayor was asked about his reasoning behind allowing murals of Black Lives Matter, but not about people with various messages.
‘I think it’s a message about human respect and the value of human beings,’ he said at the time, ‘and addressing the fact that one group in our particular state has been devalued for centuries and that cannot continue. ”
On Wednesday morning, Cohen told Brian Kilmeade of Fox News that she hopes her mural will ‘earn the memory of the fallen officers, who gave their lives as the ultimate sacrifice. We want to boost the morale for our NYPD officers to a city that now mocks and holds them accountable as well. “
CLICK HERE TO CLICK THE FOX NEWS APP
Imperatrice later told Fox Phone over the phone that amidst the anti-policemen in the city, police families who lost someone in the duty “have become at the back burner.”
“The worst part is when this all happens, the family of lovers who got lost in the line of duty, sit at home and say, ‘This is where my loved ones are sacrificing their lives,'” he said. ‘We were set up to remember the heroes. And if we can go out and go through the right process of getting approval and have an honest shock from posting a mural to honor those fallen heroes in such a turbulent time against police officers, it will be a positive statement of the nation. ”
