New York, NY – On Saturday, it was reported that the New York Police Department was suspending applications for press passes because of the protests. This follows reports of police officers threatening to revoke the press passes of those covering the city-wide protests against police brutality towards Black Americans. Speaker Johnson released the following statement in response to these troubling developments: 

“There is no excuse for slowing down press access, especially now. It is clear that the New York Police Department (NYPD) should not be handling press passes. It should be a neutral agency with limited political influence. The Council is willing to legislate, but the Mayor should quickly issue an Executive Order moving authority out of the NYPD and eliminating long-standing barriers to access.”

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