NYPD Commissioner Apologizes For 1969 Stonewall Police Raids

NEW YORK — New York City's police commissioner apologized Thursday for the police raids at the Stonewall Inn as the city prepares to host a massive LGBT pride celebration.

A raid at the famed Greenwich Village bar on June 28, 1969 sparked riots that birthed the modern-day LGBT rights movement. NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill offered a mea culpa for the crackdown as the city marks the 50th anniversary of the riots during this month's WorldPride festival.

"While I’m certainly not going to stand up here and pretend to be an expert on what happened at Stonewall, I do know what happened should not have happened," O'Neill said Thursday at NYPD headquarters. "The actions taken by the NYPD were wrong, plain and simple. The actions and the laws were discriminatory and oppressive. And for that, I apologize."

The apology marked a stark acknowledgement of how the city's police officers cracked down on gays, lesbians and transgender people before they emblazoned their patrol cars with rainbows and marched in the annual pride parade.

O'Neill's comments drew sustained applause before police officials detailed the NYPD's security plans for LGBT Pride Month in June. He pledged that actions like those that unfolded at Stonewall "would never happen" in today's NYPD.

"We are not perfect, but from what I see and what I know, the NYPD is made up of human beings that want nothing more to fight crime and to keep everyone safe," O'Neill said.

The gesture was met with gratitude from City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, who called on the NYPD to apologize for the Stonewall raids in a Wednesday radio interview.

"For Commissioner O'Neill on this historic and important month to say that publicly is very, very meaningful," Johnson, who is gay, told reporters.

"It's a day for reconciliation and healing," he added.