The mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, has suggested his predecessor Rudy Giuliani be investigated for filing a false police report, after claiming he was assaulted by a heckler who clapped him on the back at a Staten Island grocery store.
“Someone needs to remind former mayor Giuliani that falsely reporting a crime is a crime,” Adams told reporters, saying he had watched security video that undercut Giuliani’s account.
Giuliani, 78, described being hit so hard it felt like being shot.
The heckler, who police said cried out, “What’s up scumbag?” as he walked away, was arrested and spent more than 24 hours in jail before arraignment on misdemeanor charges including third-degree assault.
Adams said the Staten Island district attorney, Michael McMahon, “has the wrong person that he’s investigating”.
Adams said: “When you look at the video, the guy basically walked by and patted him on the back. It was clear that he was not punched in the head. It was clear that it didn’t feel like a bullet. It was clear that he wasn’t about to fall to the ground.”
Adams and McMahon are Democrats. Giuliani, a Republican, was mayor from 1994 to 2001, gaining widespread praise for his leadership after 9/11. Now suspended from practicing law, he was a personal lawyer for Donald Trump and took on a leading role in disputing Trump’s 2020 election loss.
The supermarket incident happened on Sunday as Giuliani was campaigning for his son, Andrew, who lost in his bid for the Republican nomination for...
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