NYC Mayor Candidate Mamdani Says He’s ‘Not Defunding the Police’

Zohran Mamdani, the democratic socialist leading the race for New York mayor, tried to distance himself from past criticism of the NYPD, two days after a mass shooting at a midtown office building left five people dead, including a police officer.

Mamdani, speaking at a press briefing on Wednesday after returning from a 10-day trip to Uganda, described some past social media posts criticizing the New York Police Department as “out of step” with his current thinking.

“I’m not defunding the police,” Mamdani said. “I’m not running to defund the police.”

The attack, the deadliest mass shooting in the ...