Hawk Newsome

Walter "Hawk" Newsome is an American law school graduate.

Biography Newsome worked as a paralegal for the Bronx District Attorney's Office and also worked as a project manager at the law firm Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker. He unsuccessfully ran for a seat on the New York City Council from The Bronx, garnering around 3% of the vote on a platform Newsome said was "too radical". He subsequently co-founded Black Lives Matter of Greater New York with Chivona Newsome. Chivona later stepped down from the group to run for a U.S. House seat in The Bronx.

In September 2021, Newsome called COVID-19 vaccine mandates "racist" and "discrimination."

In November 2021, Newsome threatened "riots", "fire", and "bloodshed" in the streets if New York City mayor-elect Eric Adams reinstated the New York City Police Department's (NYPD) controversial anti-crime units. Later, when asked whether he condemned riots and burning down buildings after a police use-of-force incident he did not approve of he said, "I’m not going to condemn, nor am I going to condone it."

Newsome has filed two ongoing civil lawsuits against the NYPD, alleging that he was assaulted by police officers and falsely arrested during two separate protests in 2017 and 2018. A video posted by the New York Daily News shows a police officer punching Newsome before several police officers tackled him to the ground. Newsome was holding a sign that read: "Blue Klux Klan".

Later, addressing a crowd, Newsome made a similar threat, calling for "black vigilantism".

Newsome was interviewed and featured in the award-winning documentary feature film Reimagining Safety (2023) by director Matthew Solomon. The film covers defunding the police and the George Floyd protests.

Relationship with BLM In June 2020, then-U.S. President Donald Trump described Newsome in a tweet as a "Black Lives Matter leader."

Personal life Newsome lives in The Bronx in New York City. He regularly attends Baptist service and smokes cigars. Newsome often wears a bulletproof vest and drives a rotation of rented vehicles for security and safety purposes.

Hawk Newsome was arrested at Bronx Criminal Court May 14th, 2024. Video clips show Hawk in verbal altercations with the court officers. According to the NY Post, "At one point, Newsome was filmed grabbing a female cop’s hand and batting it away after the officer apparently tried to move on a woman who was with Newsome." According to CBS, "Newsome was slapped with three summonses for disorderly conduct in the wake of the caught-on-camera saga."