“I’ve had some tough days in my life, and some very tough days in City Hall. But I don’t think I’ve had as tough a day in 61 years as today,” Mayor Bloomberg said, according to ABC 7.
ABC 7 also reports: “According to other council members, Davis had been introducing Askew around as someone who had been his opponent, but was now pledging support to Davis.”
The New York Times, too, is now calling Askew “a political opponent” instead of “apparently a political rival.” The Times elaborates:
Investigators said the killing might have stemmed from a simmering political dispute between Councilman Davis, 41, of Brooklyn, and the gunman, Othniel Askew, 31, who had planned to challenge Mr. Davis this fall for his seat representing central Brooklyn in the Council.
Mr. Askew had been able to slip his gun into City Hall by accompanying the councilman, who did not have to pass through metal detectors, officials said.
Law enforcement officials said Mr. Askew made a complaint to the Federal Bureau of Investigation just yesterday morning accusing Mr. Davis of trying to drive him from the Council race, first by offering him a job and then by threatening to disclose unflattering personal information about him. But the councilman’s office said that Mr. Askew had failed to collect enough signatures to get on the ballot and that it was Mr. Askew who had approached the councilman about a job.
Yesterday, Mr. Askew showed up at the councilman’s office at midday and asked if he could accompany Mr. Davis to the Council meeting, and Mr. Davis obliged, officials said.
Also, in another bitter note of irony, Davis — had planned to introduce a resolution at Wednesday’s meeting aimed at preventing violence in the workplace, according to the Times.
By the way, I have now created a blog category featuring all my posts related to today’s shooting at New York City Hall.
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Categories: City Hall Shooting, New York City
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July 23rd, 2003 at 8:43:40 pm
Good on-the-spot coverage, B. / Dammit you’re SUCH a good journalist & photojournalist. {{hmmph rrmmph uh The Arizona Republic WOOPS nonono ahem “…the Law is a Ass” - Dickens WOOOOOPS}}
Surely it was Mayor Mike’s Very Bad Day & no pooh-poohing of it, a terrible thing indeed. But let us remember too that Mayor Rudy did have a Very Much Worse Day a while back.
This one seems Preventable. Assuming 1st-day reports correct (?), it does NOT seem to me to be so Gnostic to holler about this one. (Joe Loy demands that it *Never* Happen Again…well, no. That’s too far. But, still.) Humans, and thus human-made systems & machines, will always be fallible. But everybody should be obligated to *go thru the detectors*. Including credentialed journalists. Maybe excluding uniformed law-enforcement armed in open carry, only because their weapons are obvious anyway. Everybody else. From lowliest Mayor (as Bloomie laudably pledged) to most exalted Union janitor. :) It will cause further inconvenience & *delays*, some of which will translate to public-servicing delays. Tough.
July 23rd, 2003 at 9:47:45 pm
Oh but this is clearly a case for more Gun Control. Let’s ban all handguns, they’re dangerous!