NYC Councilman Believes Threatening Federal Benefits Will Deter Violence

New York City Councilman Joseph “Joe” Borelli, R-South Shore, suggested that President Trump should “revoke” coronavirus benefits and assistance to those arrested for looting and violence.

His call to the president comes after nights of looting across New York City.

“The mass looting of commercial property along 5th Avenue and throughout significant swaths of Manhattan and Brooklyn is doing irreparable damage to the sense of safety in New York City,” said Borelli, as reported by SI Live.

Witnessing these looters emptying popular businesses like Apple shook “the confidence of everyday New Yorkers who are afraid to travel to work, hospitals, and shop for necessities,” he then said. “It is unfair and unacceptable that people who are furloughed from retail stores are receiving the same supplemental benefit as those who are smashing and looting retail stores and I hope this can be addressed immediately,” he also added.

Protests started in the city after the death of George Floyd who died in police custody. During such gatherings, protesters faced off with police officers in the city. Fox News reported, “opportunists and third-party instigators” then used the chaos to their selfish advantage

According to Borelli, city leaders are not doing enough to prevent violence. However, he says threatening federal support and benefits might do so.

SI Live explains that the benefit ($600) is part of the $2 trillion coronavirus relief package. Most Americans also know this package as the CARES Act that lawmakers passed in March.

According to the NYPD, they had arrested around 290 people for protesting and looting overnight.

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