On 32nd anniversary of Edward Byrne execution, court rules
Trump administration can cut NYC funding named for him
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.18 COM | MARCH 6-MARCH 12, 2020
on the program it created
to provide federal
criminal justice funding
under the Edward Byrne
Memorial Justice Assistance
Grant Program.
The ruling means the
Trump administration
can withhold millions
of federal dollars from
New York City and seven
other states over their
sanctuary policies on
immigration.
“Sanctuary jurisdictions
deliberately imperil
the safety of the American
people by releasing
criminal aliens onto city
streets, instead of handing
them over to federal
authorities,” White
House Press Secretary
Stephanie Grisham said
in a statement. “Today’s
unanimous decision by
the Second Circuit upholds
the Department of
Justice’s lawful authority
to require jurisdictions
that receive federal
grant money under the
Edward Byrne Memorial
Justice Assistance
Grant Program to obey
the law and not impede
the removal of criminal
aliens.
City Hall offered a
dissenting opinion.
“President Trump’s
latest retaliation against
his hometown takes
away security funding
from the number one terrorist
target in America,
all because we refuse
to play by his arbitrary
rules,” Mayor Bill de Blasio
said. “No one knows
how to keep New Yorkers
safe better than the
men and the women of
the NYPD. The President
is starving them of the
very resources named
in honor of one of New
York’s Finest, Officer Eddie
Byrne.”
The de Blasio administration
has long-argued
that the city’s low crime
rate is essentially due to
immigrant communities
feeling safe enough to cooperate
with law enforcement
without fear of immigration
status.
“New York City is
the safest big city in the
nation and the public
safety of all New Yorkers
continues to be our
top priority,” Mayor’s
Office of Immigrant
Affairs Commissioner
Bitta Mostofi said. “Officer
Eddie Byrne’s legacy
reminds us that maintaining
strong relationships
with immigrant
communities keeps all
New Yorkers safe. New
York City stands with
our immigrant brothers
and sisters and that will
never change.”
Reach reporter Bill
Parry by e-mail at bparry@
schnepsmedia.com
or by phone at (718) 260–
4538.
BY BILL PARRY
For the 32nd year in a
row, NYPD brass, police
officers and FDNY personnel
gathered outside
the 103rd Precinct in Jamaica
on Feb. 26 to pay
homage to NYPD Officer
Edward Byrne, who was
assassinated in his patrol
car while guarding a
house in South Jamaica
in 1988. The execution
occurred as the crack
epidemic raged and four
men were arrested and
brought to trial for the
Byrne murder acting on
orders from jailed drug
kingpin Harold “Pappy”
Mason.
Byrne was just 22
years old when he was
shot in the head five
times. He was guarding
the home of an immigrant
witness who
agreed to testify against
Mason at Inwood Street
and 107th Street.
Hours after Byrne’s
memorial ceremony,
a three-judge panel on
the 2nd Circuit Court of
Appeals ruled that the
Department of Justice
could withhold funding
from “sanctuary cities”
that refuse to cooperate
with the Trump administration’s
ongoing crackdown
on undocumented
immigrants. The panel’s
opinion found that Congress
had delegated authority
to the attorney
general to set conditions
A memorial to slain Police Officer Edward Byrne at the
103rd Precinct 32 years after he was assassinated by
drug dealers. Courtesy of 103rd Precinct
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