'If they think they are going back to the old ways of policing, then we're going to take to the streets again,' Newsome said. 'There will be riots. There will be fire, and there will be bloodshed.'
Speaking after the sit-down to the
New York Post, Newsome said: 'To ignore that history and say you're bringing it back means that he's tone deaf.'
He also told the
New York Daily News: 'There is no way that he is going to let some Gestapo come in here and harm our people. We pray for peace but ... prepare for the worst.'
Adams, a moderate candidate, defeated progressive rivals in June's Democratic primary on a law-and-order ticket, pledging to crack down on violent crime that has soared in New York City since the coronavirus pandemic.
However, on the campaign trail last year, he was criticized by progressive candidates for vowing to reinstate the anti-crime unit.
Chivona Newsome, a BLM co-founder and sister of Hawk Newsome, made similar threats should the unit be brought back.
'We will shut the city down. We will shut down City Hall, and we will give him hell and make it a nightmare,' she said.