The president of a New York Police Department union has come under fire for his remarks about Tessa Majors, the Barnard College student who was killed in Manhattan last week.
Majors, 18, died after being stabbed in Morningside Park allegedly during a mugging by a group of young men on Dec. 11. Sergeants Benevolent Association president Ed Mullins said on Sunday that Majors had been in the park to purchase marijuana before criticizing the city’s policy on the drug. The NYPD have not said whether they determined Major’s reason for being in the park.
“The remarks by Sergeants Benevolent Association president Ed Mullins we find deeply inappropriate, as they intentionally or unintentionally direct blame onto Tess, a young woman, for her own murder,” the Majors family said in a statement, according to the Daily Mail.
“We would ask Mr. Mullins not to engage in such irresponsible public speculation, just as the NYPD asked our family not to comment as it conducts the investigation,” they added.
“Our family is interested in knowing what exactly happened to Tess and who committed her murder. We believe, for the immediate safety of the community and the surrounding schools, that should be everyone's top priority and we are grateful to the men and women of the NYPD for all of their efforts.”
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio criticized Mullins’ comments, tweeting on Sunday, “Think of Tessa’s parents, her friends. This is heartless. It’s infuriating. We don’t shame victims in this city.”
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