...Loyda Colon, the executive director of the advocacy group Justice Committee, said the Hemingway passage was “on brand” for the NYPD, likening its popularity to the Punisher, a violent vigilante comic book character whose skull logo has been embraced by both police and far-right groups nationally.
“It accurately describes the longstanding culture of violence within the NYPD and the terror it inflicts on low-income Black, Latinx and other communities of color in our City,” Colon said.
Colon also highlighted the quote in the context of the return of a plainclothes anti-crime unit, which was disbanded in 2020 by former Commissioner Dermot Shea in the wake of the George Floyd protests. A similar group was revamped by Adams this week with a new name and new protocols designed to protect against abuse; its rollout has raised fears among criminal justice advocates.
