The comments by reporters endorsing the cold-blooded murder of a husband and father are absolutely reprehensible. No decent human being should be celebrating or justifying the execution of another person because they disagree with his business practices or politics. The normalization of this kind of rhetoric is dangerous and morally bankrupt. What makes this even more disturbing is that some of the individuals making these statements hold official NYC press credentials. Press passes exist to provide legitimate journalists access to scenes, events, and restricted areas so they can inform the public, not so radical activists can masquerade as members of the media while promoting extremism and political violence. Over the past several years, we have repeatedly seen individuals carrying press credentials using them during demonstrations and events to harass police officers, intimidate members of the public, interfere with law enforcement operations, and shield activist behavior behind the label of “journalism.” That undermines the credibility of legitimate reporters and creates serious public safety concerns. After hearing from multiple reporters with decades of experience reporting in NYC, before I left office, my administration was going through the process of rewriting the rules governing NYC press credentials to strengthen standards, protect the integrity of the press corps, and prevent political activists posing as journalists from obtaining official credentials and the access that comes with them. As your own publication reported, those proposed reforms were going through the rule-making process before being scrapped by the current administration: That decision was reckless. Official press credentials should not be handed out in a way that allows extremists to abuse them while hiding behind the credibility and protections afforded to legitimate journalism. This needs to change, and it needs to change now.