A veteran New York City police captain has been removed from his command position after making critical remarks about Mayor Zohran Mamdani during a public confrontation captured on video.
Capt. James G. Wilson, a 20-year veteran of the New York City Police Department, was stripped of his role as second-in-command at the 94th Precinct in Greenpoint and reassigned to the department’s 911 communications center in the Bronx, according to the New York Post.
The reassignment followed comments Wilson made during a tense protest outside Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in Bushwick. Demonstrators gathered after immigration agents transported an illegal Nigerian migrant to the hospital for medical treatment.
During the confrontation, protesters questioned Wilson about the mayor. In video footage circulated online, Wilson reportedly called Mamdani “total nonsense” and “an embarrassment,” adding, “not my mayor.” He also criticized Democrats broadly, referring to them as a “waste of human race.”
Police officers are expected to uphold strict political neutrality, particularly while in uniform.
— BrooklynP8triot (@Brooklynp8triot) May 4, 2026
It appears Captain James G. Wilson of the NYPD’s 94th Precinct may have received inadequate training or lacks a clear understanding of the professional boundaries and impartiality… pic.twitter.com/XwLyh1pRnh
The transfer quickly ignited political backlash from Republican officials and critics of City Hall, who argued the punishment reflected a double standard regarding political speech.
“If Capt. Wilson had said something negative about Donald Trump, he’d probably be declared a hero and get a medal and a dinner at Gracie Mansion,” New York City Councilwoman Joann Ariola told the New York Post. “But since he spoke out against Dear Leader Mamdani, the manufactured outrage machine is kicking into gear, and the radicals are coming out of the woodwork to silence all public dissent.”
Council Minority Leader David Carr also questioned the department’s enforcement of political speech rules, saying the policy “sure as hell isn’t enforced fairly or consistently.”
The NYPD’s Administrative Guide prohibits officers while on duty from publicly endorsing political candidates or expressing personal political opinions regarding parties, elections, or legislation without authorization from the police commissioner.
Retired NYPD Chief of Detectives Bob Boyce defended the department’s position in comments to ABC7 New York.
“That uniform makes you the spokesman for the police department when you say it and there’s the issue there,” Boyce said.
The controversy highlights ongoing tensions between the NYPD and Mayor Mamdani. According to CBS News New York, frustration among officers has grown over the mayor’s previous support for defunding the police and a February incident in Washington Square Park involving a mob hurling snowballs at officers that left two hospitalized.
Mamdani denied having any role in Wilson’s reassignment.
“I saw the video. I did not, however, have any involvement in that decision, nor did my City Hall,” the mayor told the New York Post, adding that the disciplinary action followed existing NYPD guidelines.
Wilson’s disciplinary case remains ongoing.
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That commie must go. Unreal, really.