BELLEVUE, WA – When Meredith Graves of Tennessee traveled to New York for a job interview last month and was ensnared by New York’s restrictive gun laws, it wasn’t enough that she may face criminal charges for being honest, Mayor Michael Bloomberg had to sully her reputation by alleging she possessed cocaine.
The Second Amendment Foundation, upon reviewing a video of the mayor’s remarks, called Bloomberg’s comment “despicable.”
“What is the difference between a New York street thug stealing a lady’s purse,” asked SAF Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb, “and Bloomberg, who publicly stole Ms. Graves’ reputation?”
Licensed to carry in her home state, Graves was with her husband when they visited the Ground Zero memorial. She had a small pistol in her purse, when she asked where to check the firearm, she was arrested. At a subsequent press conference, Bloomberg sarcastically told a reporter, “Let’s assume that she didn’t get arrested for carrying a gun. She probably would have gotten arrested for the cocaine that was in her pocket.”
But the substance was not cocaine, Gottlieb noted. It was powdered aspirin, a common remedy for headaches. During a subsequent press conference, Bloomberg even admitted authorities were not sure what the powder was, stating “We just couldn’t identify it.”
“I am sick and tired of Bloomberg demonizing gun owners,” Gottlieb stated. “Any politician that would get up in front of a microphone and outright lie to the media about an innocent victim of his Draconian firearms policies is unworthy of holding public office.”
“Every mayor who belongs to Bloomberg’s anti-gun-rights Mayors Against Illegal Guns coalition should be embarrassed by his remarks and seriously reconsider their membership in his organization,” he continued. “The only thing worse than Bloomberg’s New York gun laws is Bloomberg himself. If Bloomberg ever had any credibility at all it no longer exists. His deliberate slander of Meredith Graves is reprehensible, and he should be ashamed.”