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Police Union Boss Charged With Misconduct For Bigoted Tweets And Abuse Of Authority
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Feb 13, 2021
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By
Christopher Robbins
Published Feb 13, 2021
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The NYPD's civilian watchdog agency has substantiated misconduct charges for the first time against Sergeant Ed Mullins, the head of the Sergeants Benevolent Association, for making bigoted and profane statements on Twitter and for posting the arrest record of Mayor Bill de Blasio's daughter last year.
The substantiated misconduct charges from the Civilian Complain Review Board against the active-duty police sergeant were first reported by the Post and confirmed to Gothamist by a source familiar with the investigation.
Two of the three charges referred to the NYPD were for offensive language; one stemmed from Mullins calling Bronx Councilmember Ritchie Torries a "first-class whore" in September in a now-deleted tweet; the other from May, when Mullins called former Health Department Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot a "bitch," after Barbot allegedly got into an argument with NYPD leadership over mask distribution during the early months of the pandemic.
The third charge is for abuse of authority after Mullins tweeted the arrest record of Chiara de Blasio, who was one of thousands of New Yorkers detained during the George Floyd protests, when the city was under an 8 p.m. curfew imposed by her father.
Torres, who is now a member of Congress, referred us to his Twitter account for a statement.
This is the first time Mullins has had complaints substantiated against him, meaning there was enough evidence to show misconduct occurred. The new complaints add to a total of 11 filed against Mullins throughout his career for alleged misconduct, according to the NYCLU's database of CCRB records. The complaints fell under several categories that included Abuse of Authority, Discourtesy, and Force. All of his previous complaints were either truncated or unsubstantiated.
The CCRB declined to comment. The Mayor's Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Mullins has a long history of saying offensive things from the SBA's Twitter account, which he controls.
He has said that "Ferguson Missouri was a lie," suggested that college students who protest police are asking for mass shootings, and emailed a racist video to the SBA's 13,000 members that compared Black people to "monsters" and public housing to a "war zone." (Mullins later apologized and claimed to not have watched the video, despite noting in the email that it was "the best video I've ever seen.")
Almost a year ago, the NYPD announced they were investigating Mullins for saying that he was declaring "war" against de Blasio.
The NYPD declined to comment on the CCRB's investigation, but said that the department's new disciplinary matrix would apply to the case. According to the matrix, each of the three charges carry a punishment of up to 20 days of lost employment. The matrix is not binding, because the NYPD Commissioner still holds final disciplinary authority (the City Council recently proposed legislation that would strip away this power.)
NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea has vowed to abide by the matrix, and explain any deviations in writing.
Mullins, whose taxpayer-funded salary was $133,195 in 2020, did not respond to a text message. But the SBA's Twitter account made several tweets that appeared to reference the charges.
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Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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