![]() One incident involved Guardian Angels member Frank Melvin, who was fatally shot by a Newark police officer in December 1981 after an officer claimed they mistook his unzipping of his jacket – to display his Guardian Angels emblem – as a threat. In the early 1980s, he expanded operations to Buffalo, and was often critical of local police policies and practices. ![]() He also admitted to having claimed falsely that three off-duty transit police officers had kidnapped him. In 1992, Sliwa admitted that he and The Guardian Angels faked heroic subway rescues for publicity. Mayor Ed Koch, a critic of Sliwa and of the organization, launched an investigation into the Guardian Angels, which according to The Washington Post, proved "so positive that the Guardian Angels will soon be awarded some sort of official status." Then- Lieutenant Governor Mario Cuomo was a rare early advocate of the organization, being quoted saying "hey are a better expression of morality than our city deserves". Sliwa's red beret is a component of the Guardian Angels' uniform. Unarmed, the group required training in karate and fulfillment of legal requirements for citizens' arrest for all members before they were to be deployed. The majority of the members of the Guardian Angels were either Black or Hispanic. The group's actions drew strong reactions, both positive and negative. The Magnificent 13 grew and was renamed the Guardian Angels in 1979. At the time, the city was experiencing a crime wave. In May 1977, Sliwa created the "Magnificent 13", a civilian group dedicated to combating violence and crime on the New York City Subway. ![]() Guardian Angels Guardian Angels in Miami Metrorail, 2001 Prior to founding the Guardian Angels, he was night manager of a McDonald's restaurant on Fordham Road in the Bronx. In his youth, he worked as a delivery boy for the Daily News, where he was awarded the title of "Newsboy of the Year" and a trip to the White House after he saved several people from a burning building while on a paper route. He attended Brooklyn Prep, a Jesuit high school from which he was later expelled. Sliwa was the Republican nominee for the 2021 New York City mayoral election, which he lost to Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams.Ĭurtis Sliwa was born on March 26, 1954, into a Catholic family of Polish and Italian descent, in Canarsie, Brooklyn. Curtis Sliwa ( / ˈ s l i w ə/ born March 26, 1954) is an American activist, radio talk show host and founder and chief executive officer of the Guardian Angels, a nonprofit crime prevention organization.
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