Community rallies in support of Newburgh city cops, firefighters

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Orange County Sheriff Carl DuBois told the rally his agency stands behind the Newburgh first responders

NEWBURGH – In the wake of the recent verbal diatribe by City Councilman Omari Shakur against the Newburgh City Police officers who conducted a vehicle and traffic stop, about 100 residents, business people and others rallied in support of the police and firefighters, Friday, on the corner of Liberty Street and Broadway.

Organizer Richard Fracasse called on Shakur to resign because of his vulgar rant that went viral with 250,000 views after Mid-Hudson News obtained the body cam video and posted it. “What was represented by one city council member here in Newburgh and the destructive, hateful behavior that was shown – that’s not us here in Newburgh,” Fracasse said.

Newburgh City Police Douglas Solomon, left, says the men and women of his police force are top-notch professionals

Orange County Sheriff Carl DuBois said he supports his fellow first responders in Newburgh. “The 400 men and women of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office stand behind you and have your back,” he said to applause.

Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler, said Shakur “completely disrespected” the police officers who are working in adverse conditions.

“They are doing their job here better than you could ever imagine considering they have had drastic cuts, a lot of time they don’t get the support that they need, and a lot of times us, the people who need to speak most, don’t speak when we need to. We have to speak on their behalf,” he said. “You can’t let one person; you can’t 250,000 views on social media set the image of this city. You cannot let that happen and that’s why we’re here today.”

State Senator James Skoufis, whose district is in Newburgh, also stood with the police and firefighters.

“You all who serve this city, you don’t do it for money; God knows you don’t do it for money. You don’t do it to get headlines in the paper. You do it because you care about the people who live in the city; you care about the businesses. And this is more than just safety; of course that’s the most direct impact. If you don’t have a safe city, people stop investing in this city, people stop moving into this city,” Skoufis said.

Police Chief Douglas Solomon, who has been in law enforcement for over 30 years, told the crowd that of the three cities in which he served, he could not be more proud of the men and women of the Newburgh City Police Department.




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