New York mayor Eric Adams was heckled by a fan as he delivered a speech honoring the impact on the civil rights movement that Martin Luther King Jr had.
Making an appearance on Martin Luther King Day at Madison Square Garden, Mayor Adams spoke to the resident fans before the game between the Knicks and the Charlotte Hornets began.
During his speech, Adams said of Martin Luther King Jr: ‘When the civil rights battle was on the line, Dr. King wanted the ball in his hand, and he gave his life to ensure that our country would be a better place for all of us.’
However, part-way through his address, Adams was interrupted by a shout from the crowd.
New York mayor Eric Adams (pictured during during BAM the 36th Brooklyn Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Monday), was heckled as he delivered a tribute to Martin Luther King Jr in the build up to a Knicks game
In a video clip recorded during the speech and shared on Twitter by a reporter from The Athletic, a member of the crowd can be heard yelling: ‘Shut the f*** up!’
The heckle was then followed up by laughter from some other members of the crowd – though it did not prevent Adams from finishing speaking.
He continued: ‘Right now, we want the ball in our hand again as we deal with Covid, as we deal with crime, as we deal with uncertainty. Let’s win this for team New York, for team America. Let’s take the ball.’
It comes after President Joe Biden took aim at Republican state legislatures passing election security laws in his speech marking Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday.
In a video clip recorded during Adams’ address, a member of the crowd can be heard yelling: ‘Shut the f*** up!’ A few other visitors can also be heard laughing at the outburst
The President used his address memorializing the slain civil rights leader to attack his rivals and push his federal voting legislation.
Biden called on elected officials to make ‘clear where they stand’ on voting reform after his most recent attempt to pass the federal legislation fell apart last week amid inter-Democratic Party squabbling.
He compared today’s struggle over how to ensure free and fair elections to King’s hard-fought battle for equality and said the January 6 Capitol riot was proof that attacks on democracy from the right ‘are real.’
‘Vice President Harris and I visited Atlanta, Georgia, the cradle of civil rights in America,’ Biden began, referring to his trip early last week.
‘We paused and prayed at the crypt of Dr. and Mrs. King, we met members of their family…we met students who are changing the world just like generations of young people before them had done that — in fact, Dr. King was just one of those young people.’
Biden said King was a ’15-year-old student at Morehouse College’ when he set out on a path to a ‘promise that holds that we’re all created equal and deserve to be treated equally throughout our lives.’
‘Dr. King wasn’t just a dreamer of that promise, he was a doer. And on this federal holiday that honors him, it’s not just enough to praise him. We must commit to his unfinished work, to deliver jobs and justice, to protect the sacred right to vote, the right from which all other rights flow,’ he continued.
The president pivoted to a harsher tone as he accused Republicans of ‘attacking’ American democracy over their election security measures and once again invoked the deadly insurrection at the United States Capitol.
Biden said King ‘held up a mirror to America’ that’s now being ‘held up again’
‘Attack (sic) on our democracy is real, from the January 6 insurrection to the onslaught of Republicans’ anti-voting laws in a number of states. It’s no longer just about who gets to vote. It’s about who gets to count the vote, and whether your vote counts at all,’ Biden said.
He said GOP efforts to strengthen security at the ballot box were about ‘two things: voter suppression and election subversion.’
‘In his time, through his courage, his conviction, his commitment, Dr. King held a mirror up to America and forced us to answer the question: Where do we stand? Whose side are we on?’ Biden said.
‘We’re in another moment right now, where the mirror is being held up to America, being held up again. The question being asked again: Where do we stand? Whose side are we on? Will we stand against voter suppression, yes or no? Will we stand against election subversion, yes or no?
‘Will we stand up for America where everyone is guaranteed the full protections and the full promise of this nation, yes or no?’
The president called on ‘elected officials’ nationwide to make their stance on voting rights reform clear.
‘I know where I stand. And it’s time for every elected official in America to make it clear where they stand,’ he said.
Biden, who won the White House on the promise of unifying the country, now urged all Americans to make clear ‘whose side are you on’ over voting rights.
‘It’s time for every American to stand up, speak out, be heard: where do you stand? Whose side are you on?’ he asked.
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