New York governor Andrew Cuomo announced the formation of a new task force to combat the explosion of hate crimes since the election of Donald Trump. Cuomo delivered his promise speaking Sunday at Harlem's Abyssinian Baptist Church.
"With trained professionals we will investigate every incident and prosecute the perpetrator to the fullest extent of the law," Cuomo said. "The laws of New York will protect every citizen and every child. I will propose this January to expand the Human Rights Law, to specifically protect every child in every school, both public and private."
Cuomo cited specific incidents of hate that have cropped up since the election. Those included a KKK flier campaign, a swastika painted on New York City's B train, and a swastika accompanied by the phrase "Make America White Again" in Buffalo.
Later in the speech, Cuomo suggested that if Trump wanted to deport immigrants, he should start with Cuomo. The governor also said that New York state would begin a legal defense fund to protect immigrants that a Trump administration could prosecute.
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Cuomo cautioned against accepting racism, citing a history of American persecution of racial minorities.
"We have seen this act before," Cuomo said. "The race massacre in Tulsa in 1921. The Palmer Raids and mass deportation of immigrants in the Twenties. The internment of Japanese citizens during World War II. The Red Scare of the 1950s."
Trump's surrogates and transition team have cited Japanese internment camps, which America has officially apologized for and paid survivors $20,000 each, as precedent for a proposed Muslim registry.
Watch Cuomo's full speech below.
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