Bratton: Reported Request For Trump To Speak To NYPD Roll Call Would Have Been 'Photo Op'
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said Friday that presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump would not be speaking to an NYPD roll call.
Speaking at a news conference, Bratton said he was not interested in providing "photo ops" for any candidate.
"Our interest is staying out of the politics of the moment, and not to provide photo-ops. If Mr. Trump wants to speak to me, I'd be happy to brief him on what we're doing," Bratton said. "If Senator Clinton wants to speak to me, I'd be very happy to brief her on what we're doing, but we're not in the business of providing photo-ops for our candidates."
The New York Daily News reported that a representative of Trump's Manhattan organization asked Bratton to let Trump speak at a 3 p.m. roll call at the Midtown North Precinct, following the shooting that left five police officers dead and seven wounded in Dallas Thursday night.
"My understanding is there may have been a request made to attend a roll call – I believe that was something," Bratton said at the news conference.
Citing a police source, the Daily News reported that the idea for the meeting came from Trump head of security Keith Schiller, a former NYPD detective. Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks told the newspaper that Trump did not reach out with any request to address a police roll call.
Bratton said at the news conference that Clinton had also asked to speak with him, and repeated that he would be pleased to speak to both candidates.
"I've also had basically an inquiry from Senator Clinton of setting up a call to be briefed on what's going on in New York, and again, I'd be glad to speak to either one of them in that regard," he said.
Donald Trump took to Twitter Friday morning offering his condolences on the Dallas shooting.
"Prayers and condolences to all the families who are so thoroughly devastated by the horrors we are all watching take place in this country," he tweeted.
Trump released statement on his Facebook page calling the incident an "attack on our country."
"We must restore law and order. We must restore the confidence of our people to be safe and secure in their homes and on the street," Trump said in the statement.
Trump continued, saying the nation has become "too divided," and that racial tensions have "gotten worse, not better."
