NYPD sergeants union president Ed Mullins resigns after FBI raids headquarters, LI home

Ed Mullins, the longtime president of the city's police union for sergeants, has resigned after FBI agents in Manhattan Tuesday raided union offices and his Port Washington home, a union board email said.

In a message to the membership from the executive board of the city's Sergeants Benevolent Association, the board said "given the severity of this matter and the uncertainty of its outcome … this evening president Mullins has agreed to tender his resignation as president of the SBA."

The board said Mullins was entitled to "a presumption of innocence."

FBI spokeswoman Adrienne Sentore said that agents at both locations were carrying out "a law enforcement action in connection with an ongoing investigation."

Sentore declined to comment on what evidence the search warrants were seeking. One team of agents visited the Sergeants Benevolent Association offices at 35 Worth St. while another group went to Mullins' home in Port Washington, officials said.

The SBA has an estimated 13,000 members with the rank of sergeant, which is one level above patrol officer.

Mullins was an outspoken union official who over the years had blunt and caustic criticism of elected officials like Mayor Bill de Blasio and police commissioners, including Bill Bratton, James O'Neill and Dermot Shea. Earlier, he didn't return numerous telephone and text messages seeking comment.

Andrew C. Quinn, the attorney for the SBA, also didn't return messages seeking comment earlier in the day. A Newsday reporter who visited the SBA office building on Worth Street was told by people who came to the door to leave the premises.

Mullins, who is also a police sergeant, was in the middle of a department disciplinary proceeding for tweeting NYPD paperwork last year pertaining to the arrest of de Blasio's daughter during protests over the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd. Mullins' department trial began last month but was postponed indefinitely after one of his lawyers suffered a medical emergency.

Mullins' lawyers denied he violated department guidelines, arguing that paperwork with Chiara de Blasio's personal identifying information, such as her date of birth and address, was already posted online.

Mullins is also suing the department, claiming it was trying to muzzle him by interrogating him and recommending disciplinary action over his online missives.

Asked about the raids Tuesday, de Blasio told reporters he didn't have enough information to comment.

"I think he's been a divisive voice," de Blasio said of Mullins. "But that doesn't cause me to feel anything in this situation because I don't know what's happening. All I hear is an FBI raid. I don't know the specifics, I don't know who it's directed at. I want to really hear the details before I comment further."

In recent months, as violent crime and shootings rose in the city, Mullins would criticize the NYPD management for not supporting cops in the face of the "defund the police" movement and anti-police demonstrations.

With Associated Press

By Anthony M. DeStefano

tony.destefano@newsday.comtonynewsday

Anthony M. DeStefano has been a reporter for Newsday since 1986 and covers law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs from its New York City offices.