EXCLUSIVE – BLives Matter activists have turned against New York City leadership over what they claim to be racist demands for the COVID-19 vaccine.

Mayor Bill De Blasio has aggressively pushed for a “vaccine passport” system that prohibits entry to restaurants, gyms and other public places without proof of COVID-19 inoculation. But with black residents lagging behind the general population on vaccinations, the rules disproportionately affect a minority group generally in tune with Democratic policies. The schism came to a head on Monday, when Black Lives Matter of Greater New York City launched a protest outside a restaurant where the enforcement of the policy sparked a melee.

Hawk Newsome is a black activist and co-founder of Black Lives Matter of Greater New York – one of many Black Lives Matter organizations outside of the Black Lives Matter Global Network hierarchy. He founded the group with his sister, Chivona Newsome. Both siblings spoke at Monday’s protest, where Hawk accused the city of using vaccination requirements to cover up its “racist ways” and “discrimination.”

Newsome spoke to the Washington Examiner about the challenges that vaccine-hesitant blacks face in the age of medical passports.

“We are not anti-vaccines. Some of us are vaccinated,” Newsome said of his group. “It is an individual’s choice. No one should be forced to put anything in their body.”

BLM ORGANIZER SAYS BLASIO VACCINE MANDATE IS ARMED AGAINST BLACK COMMUNITY

The number of black residents in New York City who have not been vaccinated is dramatically disproportionate to other racial groups. More than 70% of blacks in New York City between the ages of 18 and 44 did not receive the injection – a statistic touted by Chivona during Monday’s protest. There are various reasons for the delay in shooting, including religious beliefs and mistrust of the government.

“It’s black people who have a natural distrust of the vaccine,” Newsome said. He cited the Tuskeegee Syphilis Study as an example of historical exploitation of blacks by the American medical community, despite the fact that vaccines are available to people of all racial groups.

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BLMGNY is campaigning for the complete abolition of vaccine requirements, not only in cities but also nationally.

“I think in a perfect world [vaccine requirements] should be on a business-by-business basis. But that could be a slippery slope, so the mandate should be removed altogether, “Newsome said, adding,” It won’t be the white men in suit on Wall Street who will be arrested. There is so much hypocrisy in this business. “

Newsome, a Baptist, said what infuriates him most is the lack of accommodation for an individual’s spiritual objections to the vaccine.

“How dare they take away religious exemptions? It’s the most disrespectful thing I’ve ever seen,” Newsome said. “Now the government has decided that your God does not matter? I love God.”

Three black women were recorded attacking the waitress at Italian restaurant Carmine’s on Thursday, after which they were arrested and charged with inciting a fight. The women allege that the waitress used racist slurs against them which provoked them, but no record of such an altercation has been made public so far. Carmine’s owner Jeffrey Bank has denied that his hostess used racist language when asking for proof of vaccination.

“Three women brutally attacked our hostess without provocation, were arrested and charged with their misconduct, and then, over the past few days, their lawyer has falsely and grossly distorted their acts of wanton violence in a cynical attempt to try to excuse the inexcusable, “the bank said in a statement.

Regardless of Bank’s explanation, protesters including Newsome and his sister took to the streets against the restaurant and the town’s vaccination warrants.

A Black Lives Matter protester was recorded shouting at a member of the community anti-crime group “Guardian Angels” during the protest. The unidentified man, who wore a black tank top and mask, repeatedly shouted “suck d ***” in the face of Guardian Angels patrol leader Joshua Penner, 77WABC News reported.

BLMGNY is not new to controversial political protests, and neither is Newsome.

After the death of George Floyd by a Minneapolis policeman, which sparked several nationwide protests and led to former policeman Derek Chauvin to be convicted of murder, Newsome said if the United States does not “give [black people] whatever they want, “they would” burn this system down, “while refusing to comment on whether his statement was literal or figurative. At one point in the Fox News interview, Newsome also called Jesus Christ” the most famous radical black revolutionary in history. “

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Newsome has insisted to the Washington Examiner that his group is not “turning to the right” in criticizing the Democratic leadership in New York.

“I’m a fan of Malcolm X,” Newsome said, calling the historic black activist the greatest civil rights leader in US history. “Malcolm X didn’t trust Republicans, but he didn’t trust Democrats either.”

“Do we agree with the right? No,” he continued, adding that he cannot align with the GOP because he believes their platform is built around the oppression of the Black. However, Newsome believes black communities are intentionally excluded from discussions of vaccine reluctance by left-wing politicians.

“It fits a story to say that the crazy Trumpsters are the only ones who don’t want to get the shot,” Newsome said.

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Key words: Coronavirus, New York City, Eric Adams, Bill de Blasio, Black Lives Matter, Vaccination, Mandate

Original author: Timothy Nerozzi

Original location: Black Lives Matter of Greater New York frontman calls vaccine mandates racist and disrespectful