Democrat Rochester, New York Mayor Hit With Firearms Charges, Endangering A Child
By Carmine Sabia | Conservative Brief | July 17, 2021
Things have gotten worse for an embattled New York mayor who had her home raided this year as part of a drug investigation.
Rochester, New York Mayor Lovely Warren and her husband Timothy Granison have been charged with criminal possession of a firearm, two counts of failure to secure firearms in a home and two counts of Endangering the welfare of a child, Fox News reported.
The May 19 search of the home by the state police was related to Granison, 42, who also faces federal charges related to an alleged drug trafficking conspiracy. Authorities found a rifle and pistol were found inside the home, where the couple’s 10-year-old daughter was left alone, resulting in the charges, District Attorney Sandra Doorley said.
The mayor said she and her husband have been estranged for a long time but her tenure as mayor has been plagued with controversy.
She was indicted in a campaign finance fraud case in October. Prosecutors allege she broke campaign finance rules during her last reelection campaign, four years ago. The treasurers of her campaign and political action committees were also charged.
She faced calls to resign in the summer of 2020 over the death of Daniel Prude, a Black man who died after police officers placed a hood over him and pressed him onto the pavement until he stopped breathing. Police officials stayed silent about the death for months afterward until Prude’s family obtained police body-camera footage of the encounter.
After the drug raid in May the mayor said that she believed the raid and the investigation were rooted in politics.
We still need to ask ourselves, why? Why would they do this now? Because they saw, like you saw, that the momentum was building in our favor in the mayoral race, and I was going to be found innocent in my election law case, because I did nothing wrong. Let’s ask ourselves why, after I announced that I was going forward with reparations and universal basic income … they saw, like you saw.
Let’s ask ourselves why, at the exact time that the police are knocking at my door, The New York Times, all the way from Manhattan, were sending me an email, asking me about this. Finally, we need to ask ourselves, why, if this is not about politics, why is Tim’s [the mayor’s husband] next court date June 24, the day before Primary Day? Now, that’s quite the coincidence.
“There’s nothing implicating me in these charges announced today because I’ve done nothing wrong,” Warren emphasized to reporters.
Granison pleaded not guilty to two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree and criminal possession of a firearm.
The judge was unable to place bail due to the nature of the charges and Granison was released on his own recognizance.
Warren’s tenure as mayor is coming to an end as she was defeated in the Democrat primary in June by challenger Malik Evans.
“Me running was about my daughter, and all the little Black girls of this city,” she said. “It was about letting them know that no matter what comes your way, you will never ever give up. You don’t quit. You don’t walk away.
“I wanted every child of our city to know trouble don’t last always,” the mayor said after the election in June.
“We may think that today was about an ending,” she said. “Today was about a new beginning for me, for my daughter. … It is OK that the city has chosen to go in a different direction. I want you all to support the new leadership. I want to make sure that you gird him up …. Pray for him — like you prayed for me.”
