Bruce Blakeman calls for Mamdani to fire Kazi Fouriza over cop-hating 'killers' comment
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: GOP representative Bruce Blakeman chimed in on Zohran Mamdani’s choice of council by selecting Kazi Fouriza, who previously termed the New York Police Department 'killers.'
Blakeman criticized the decision on Monday, December 29, 2025, and said Mamdani 'cannot' allow someone who previously demonized law enforcement on his transition team. He called for her to be fired 'immediately.'
Blakeman slams Mamdani and Kathy Hochul
The GOP representative criticized Zohran Mamdani and Governor Kathy Hochul to empowering a 'radical anti-police activist' and for standing by the Defund the Police allies. He added that the two had made their priorities clear.
Blakeman, who is in competition with Kathy Hochul, criticized her strategy and drew parallels on how he would do things differently.
Blakeman said that if he were elected, he would stand with law enforcement and reject the Defund the Police allies.
“And ensure extremists have no influence over the future of New York,” he said.
While Mamdani hasn’t responded to the criticism, Kathy Hochul’s spokesperson slammed Kazi Fouzia’s comments, stating that she had 'fought to support' the men and women of law enforcement, invested over $3 billion in public safety, and helped deploy more police officers in the subways.
“Getting 10,000 illegal guns off our streets, and fighting back to restore $187 million in counterterrorism funding that the Trump administration tried to cut,” the spokesperson said.
2020 video of Kazi Fouriza resurfaces
In a video from 2020, during a discussion called WhatsApp: 'Our Role in Black Liberation Movements,' Fouzia criticized the New York Police Department around the time of the Black Lives Matter protests.
At the time, she slammed other Bangladeshis for celebrating their relatives joining the NYPD, worried that they could become killers. She asked what they were 'proud of,' noting that their relatives could become killers or 'brutally' beat up members of their community.
The video was released by Stu Smith, an investigative analyst from Manhattan. He said that Fouzia now sat on Zohran Mamdani’s transitional committee for 'worker justice,' which was 'odd' given her views.
He further said that she had 'belittled' South Asian families who felt proud of their relatives for joining the NYPD, adding that she portrayed it as 'inherently shameful.'
