NYPD Chief John Chell has cancelled his planned appearance at a Whitestone Republican Club event, named “Special Event: NYC In Crisis!,” following a controversy over political comments he made online.
The Queens event that is scheduled to take place on Wednesday had been advertised in a poster identifying Chell by rank and featuring a photo of him in uniform.
Recently, the police chief has faced backlash over comments he made that were directed at Tiffany Cabán, a left-leaning city counselor whom he called a “colossal disgrace,” after she criticized the police for their alleged infiltration of the Pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University on Tuesday.
“Tuesday night’s authoritarian conduct by Columbia University’s administrators and Mayor Adams’ NYPD were a colossal disgrace, a horrifying affront to democracy and free speech, and an abject failure of public safety,” Cabán said in a post on X.
Chell then responded directly to her post the next day.
“I started to read this garbage and quickly realized this is coming from a person who hates our city and certainly does not represent the great people of NYC,” he wrote on the NYPD’s official Chief of Patrol account. “Tuesday night’s criminal conduct by entitled unaccountable students and the support they received from Councilmember Tiffany Cabán is a colossal disgrace.”
The post was soon after deleted from X, however a spokesperson said it was taken down by mistake, and that Chell still stands by his statements.
Reportedly, the poster for the Whitestone event concerned some ex-NYPD officers and local government officials, who told the Daily News there could be legal issues in Chell being connected with the political organization as a the Chief of Police.
Word of Chell’s cancellation came from the NYPD press office shortly after a story about his planned raincheck was published on The News’ website late on Tuesday.
“Chief John Chell will not be attending this event,” the NYPD press office said.
Chell’s canceled appearance comes as he and other NYPD officials, including Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry, have been increasingly participating in political social media discourse.
Dozens of local officials sent Mayor Adams a letter this week urging him to penalize Chell for his targeted remarks toward Democratic/Liberal city council members online, including posting a poll for his followers to vote if they dislike Councilwoman Cabán.
Yet when questioned about the pushback on Tuesday, the mayor said he supported Chell and Daughtry.
