Gov. Andrew Cuomo says those protesting the death of George Floyd are right to express their outrage, but adds that the protests should be about more than anger.
Cuomo weighed in on the looting and destruction that has taken place across the country over the past few nights - including fires near the White House and in lower Manhattan.
"Can you have a legitimate protest movement hijacked? Yes you can," said Cuomo in his Monday press briefing. "There are people who will use this moment to steal. Is it a coincidence that they broke into a Rolex watch company?"
Cuomo also expressed concerns that there could be a spike in new coronavirus cases due to the mass gatherings.
"We won't know for weeks. How many super spreaders were in that crowd?" he says.
Protests over the weekend on Long Island remained peaceful and on message, but with more underway Monday, both Nassau and Suffolk executives weighed in.
"We have seen peaceful protests here in Nassau County, peaceful exercise of people's First Amendment right, I bless that, I endorse it, I support it," says Nassau Executive Laura Curran. "Looting, violence, property destruction, those are crimes."
"To the extent that people are looting, they're actually undermining the message of the demonstration of the protest, and it's not helpful, and I'm hopeful that is going to end, violence it is not acceptable, looting is not acceptable," says Suffolk Executive Steve Bellone.