Adams and Sharpton denounce gun violence and political extremism after attempted Trump assassination

New York’s leaders condemned the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania over the weekend. Mayor Eric Adams held a bipartisan, multifaith press conference with the Rev. Al Sharpton Sunday where he denounced both gun violence and political extremism. 

Adams described the video of the chaos from the Trump rally as “chilling.” He noted the youth of the gunman who attempted to assassinate Trump: “We have watched our children radicalized to a place to be anti-everything,” he said, later referencing social media algorithms. He also condemned gun violence. “We’re watching how the destructive power of a bullet can change the entire direction of our entire country.”

Sharpton, the longtime civil rights leader, said he reached out to Adams that morning to propose the press conference “to really say, in the hometown of former President Donald Trump, that we in no way condone, or support and violence against him, his family or his supporters.”

Sharpton recalled being stabbed at a peaceful march for racial justice in 1991. “I know what the trauma is of tasting your own blood,” he said. Sharpton was attacked by a white man with a steak knife shortly before a demonstration protesting the outcome of a trial verdict of multiple white teenagers who were charged with killing a Black teen. Adams said while he’s cognizant of the risks, he doesn’t plan to change the way he interacts with the public.

GOP City Council Member Joe Borelli described the difference between political anger and hate. “The dehumanization of your political opponents is the problem of politics,” he said. Borelli and several other GOP City Council members head to Milwaukee today for the Republican National Convention.

The leaders also expressed condolences for the person killed at the rally on Saturday and for the people injured, and Sharpton warned against the spread of conspiracy theories. “We cannot settle our political differences with bullets. We must settle them with ballots,” Sharpton said. 

Gov. Kathy Hochul condemned the shooting on X, saying: “Any violence against a fellow American is disgusting and unacceptable. We must express political disagreements peacefully, civilly and respectfully. I am praying for the safety and health of former President Trump and all who are attending this event in Pennsylvania.”