Original Article By Newsmax Wires
America’s major cities are suffering from a “turnstile criminal justice system” driven by judges and politicians who refuse to keep violent offenders off the streets, Guardian Angels founder and former New York City mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa told Newsmax on Sunday.
Speaking as cases of repeated assaults dominate headlines, Sliwa warned on Newsmax’s “Sunday Agenda” that the political establishment remains unmotivated to intervene despite communities demanding safety, and the system is allowing offenders with extensive criminal histories to cycle through courts without consequences.
“These are predicate felons,” he said. “These are people who do it over and over, and instead of being incarcerated or put in a mental health care hospital for the criminally insane, they’re turned loose into the streets.”
He added that political leaders in “hopelessly blue” cities have shown little urgency to address the repeated attacks on residents.
Referencing violent incidents in New York City, Charlotte, and Chicago, Sliwa said the failures are consistent across jurisdictions.
A major part of the problem, Sliwa said, is the reluctance of judges to use preventive detention even when violent histories are obvious.
“If somebody is showing that they’re an enemy of society, if they’re repeat criminals, especially violent criminals, you can remand them to jail over and over again, but the judges have basically taken it into their own hands,” he said.
He contrasted the security provided to public officials with the vulnerability of ordinary residents.
“DAs are protected so that they get armed security everywhere … but that’s not the case for average people,” Sliwa said.
He also warned that the legal climate has discouraged police officers from intervening in crime, including in New York City, where officers fear personal lawsuits because they are not protected by qualified immunity.
“They get sued,” he noted, adding that the system creates “a real conundrum” that erodes public safety in transit systems and neighborhoods.
Sliwa then turned to Chicago, criticizing Mayor Brandon Johnson for focusing on political attacks rather than crime.
“If you want to know what’s going to happen in New York City with the mayor-elect [Zohran Mamdani]… all you got to do is look at the chaos and anarchy that’s taking place in Chicago,” he said.
Sliwa also rejected radio chatter suggesting he was paid to stay in the New York mayoral race, letting Mamdani win.
He dismissed the notion that former Gov. Andrew Cuomo could have won the race without him remaining in the race, calling it mathematically impossible.
“Even if Cuomo had gotten every vote that I had garnered, he still wouldn’t have been elected the next mayor of New York City,” said Sliwa.
Cuomo was flawed, he added.
“Everybody you talk to says, oh, is that the guy, you mean, slapping fannies and killing grannies?” said Sliwa. “And he never apologized for that, so how is he ever going to overcome problems that he had as governor that caused him to flee because he feared impeachment?”
City leadership, he continued, simply chose the wrong candidate to run against Mamdani.
“It should have been me,” Sliwa said. “It would have been a great one-on-one: law and order versus disorder.”
Sliwa closed by saying he remains committed to fighting for New York City.
“I’m the only one staying here because I’m going to fight for what I know is right,” he said. “Improve, not move.”
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