Asked To Apologize For Stonewall, O'Neill Says 'We're Moving Forward'

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill was given the chance Monday to apologize for the raid on the Stonewall Inn 48 years ago that helped launch the modern gay rights movement, but he declined.

As WCBS 880's Alex Silverman reported, O'Neill was speaking at an event hosted by the New York City Bar Association. Someone asked if he would apologize for the discrimination and violence during the raids on the Stonewall Inn in 1969.

"I think that's been addressed already," he said. "I think we're moving forward."

O'Neill went on to say the NYPD was received very positively during the Pride March on Sunday. But last year, his predecessor Bill Bratton was asked the same question and said the apology is all that has occurred since then.

Back in 2004, the police official who actually led the raid on Stonewall did apologize.

Deputy Inspector Seymour Pine said police officers back then were certainly prejudiced, but they had no idea what gay people were about.