NPYD Arrests Man For ‘Terroristic Threats’ After He Appeared To Threaten Diamond District On Live TV

The New York Police Department has arrested a Brooklyn man for “making terroristic threats” after he allegedly threatened to burn down the Diamond District if the mayor did not meet with protesters.

Israel “Ace” Burns, 34, has been charged with one count of making terroristic threats, one count aggravated harassment, and one count of false reporting, the New York Police Department (NYPD) said, according to  Fox News.

The charges come after Burns appeared to say during a live interview Saturday with Fox News that he would burn down a Manhattan block famous for jewelry dealers unless Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Democratic New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio met with protesters and gave “some direction.”

“Today, I’m giving a demonstration from Barclay’s Center at 6 p.m. to City Hall, and that’s the first stop — and we’re hoping [Mayor] De Blasio and [Gov.] Cuomo come out and talk to us and give the youth some direction,” Burns said to Fox News reporter Jacqui Heinrich Saturday.

“But if they don’t, then [the] next stop is the Diamond District,” Burns said in the Fox News interview. “And gasoline, thanks to Trump, is awfully cheap. So, we’re giving them a chance right now to do the right thing.”

Burns was taken to central booking and had not been released, Fox reported.

Burns’ comments came as protests and riots occurred throughout the country in response to the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a police officer knelt on his neck for several minutes, video showed. The police officer, Derek Chauvin, has been fired and charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter.