After 50 years, the New York Police Department (NYPD) has issued an apology for the police raid of the Stonewall Inn in 1969.
The apology comes after New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson called on the department to apologize during an interview with 1010 WINS.
“The NYPD in the past has apologized for other incidents that have occurred, so I think the NYPD apologizing on this would be a very, very good thing, and it’s something they should do,” Johnson said.
New York City Pride, the non-profit behind this year’s World Pride, also issued a statement demanding a formal apology.
“[W]e voted unanimously to demand that the NYPD formally apologize to the LGBTQ community for the violent police raid that triggered the Stonewall Uprising,” the statement said.
We demand @NYPDNews issue an apology to the LGBTQIA+ community for the violent police raid that triggered the #Stonewall Uprising. @NYPDONeill is offered the stage at the #Stonewall50 Commemoration Rally during #WorldPride2019 on June 28 to issue the apology.
— New York City Pride (@NYCPride) June 6, 2019
The NYPD commissioner, James P. O’Neill, answered these demands by apologizing for the raids during a World Pride safety briefing event at Police Headquarters, according to the New York Times.
“I think it would be irresponsible to go through World Pride month and not to speak of the events at the Stonewall Inn in June of 1969,” O’Neill said. “I do know what happened should not have happened.”
“The actions taken by the NYPD were wrong – plain and simple,” he continued. “The actions and the laws were discriminatory and oppressive, and for that, I apologize. I vow to the LGBTQ community that this would never happen in the NYPD in 2019. We have, and we do, embrace all New Yorkers.”
Johnson, who is gay himself, said the apology was “moving.”
“To have the NYPD commissioner make this very explicit remarks apologizing, it’s really moving.”