New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio made a sudden trip to Germany Thursday to join a protest surrounding the G-20 summit.
The mayor is set to deliver the keynote address Saturday at a protest dubbed “Hamburg Zeigt Haltung,” or Hamburg Shows Attitude, his office announced shortly before he left the city, The New York Times reported.
Protest organizer Marcel Schweitzer said the event is meant to “stand up for democracy and human rights.”
“We aren’t against G-20,” he told The Times, but the event is meant to remind every member of the G-20, “especially President Donald Trump,” that he has to “respect the human rights charter of the United Nations.”
The mayor’s abrupt departure came one day after the fatal shooting of NYPD Officer Miosotis Familia. He reportedly left for Hamburg hours after skipping a swearing-in ceremony for new police recruits.
Republican Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis blasted the trip, accusing the mayor of abandoning a city in need.
“A member of the NYPD was murdered, a homeless crisis continues to worsen and our subway system seems to be on the verge of collapse and Mayor de Blasio has been criss-crossing the country pushing his national agenda, and now this,” she told the New York Daily News. “Taxpayers deserve to know how much this is costing them and why the mayor refuses to do his job.”
Donald Trump Jr., Mr. Trump’s eldest son, also tweeted, “NYC mayor goes to G20 to protest against capitalism while the City’s education, infrastructure etc rots under his ’progressive’ stewardship!”
On Friday, Mr. de Blasio is scheduled to meet with Hamburg Mayor Olaf Scholz, the President of the Hamburg Parliament, Carola Alexandra Veit, and attend a reception for G-20, the New York Post reported.
A de Blasio spokesman said the mayor’s trip is being paid for by the organizers of Saturday’s protest.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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