Ed Mullins, facing FBI probe, defends profane tweets in NYPD trial

An FBI investigation forced him into early retirement, but former Sergeants Benevolent Association union boss Ed Mullins isn’t about to apologize.

The embattled ex-union head stood by his inflammatory tweets Monday, testifying in an NYPD departmental trial that he was defending cops when he derided City Councilman Ritchie Torres as a “first-class whore” and city Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot as a “b---h.”

“You make no apologies for calling Dr. Barbot a b---h? You make no apologies for calling Councilman Torres a whore?” Civilian Complaint Review Board prosecutor Jonathan Fogel asked.

“No,” Mullins replied.

At stake in the trial is tens of thousands of dollars in accrued vacation and overtime pay. The CCRB recommends Mullins be fired over the tweets — a move that would limit his benefits upon retirement.

After the brief trial concluded, however, the normally talkative Mullins refused comment on the Oct. 5 raid in which the FBI seized records from his Long Island home and the SBA headquarters in lower Manhattan. Sources said Mullins is being investigated for misappropriating union funds, but no charges have yet been filed.

Mullins stepped down as SBA president after the raid, a role he held for 19 years, and gave a 30-day notice for retirement. That short window forced the Civilian Complaint Review Board to expedite a departmental trial accusing him of dishonoring the NYPD with the profane tweets.

The first allegedly dishonorable tweet came in May 2020, in the early months of the coronavirus pandemic. Barbot was accused of saying she didn’t give “two rats’ a—es” about cops who needed personal protective equipment during the pandemic.

“Truth is this b---h has blood on her hands but why should anyone be surprised the NYPD has suffered under DeBlasio since he became Mayor,” Mullins tweeted in response.

Mullins testified that Barbot had failed as a leader.

“She wasn’t doing her job,” he said. “We had men and women dying, serving the public, trying to save people’s lives during COVID. And we had no equipment. In many cases we had to purchase our own equipment. And she stockpiled all this equipment. We got nothing from the Police Department.

“We got nothing from the health commissioner — and it just wasn’t fair.”

The next tweet came In September 2020, after then-Councilman Ritchie Torres (D-Bronx) demanded an investigation into a possible NYPD work slowdown amid surging gun violence, arrests.

“This is what a first class whore looks like RITCHIE TORRES,” Mullins tweeted. “Passes laws to defund police, supports criminals, & now because he’s running for office he blames the police to protect what he voted for. Remember Little Ritchie? Meet LYING RITCHIE.”

Torres, who is gay, blasted Mullins as “homophobic” and “unhinged.” Torres is now a Congressman representing the South Bronx.

Mullins made it clear he had no regrets about the tweets posted from the SBA’s account, which has more than 45,000 followers.

“What Torres said was totally false and inaccurate of what was occurring in the streets of New York,” Mullins testified. “To have not come out and said anything would be irresponsible of me.”

Fogel argued the sergeant is subject to the same Patrol Guide rules as any other cop, despite being a union leader.

“The president of a union is still a policeman,” Fogel said. “The employees of the department must follow the rules of the department. And when you are an employee of the department what you say reflects not just on you — it reflects on the reputation of the New York City Police Department.

“He disgraced the department.”

But lawyer Hugo Ortega said Mullins, as union head, is not bound by the same rules as every other cop. The First Amendment gives Mullins the right to speak out, regardless of the tone, Ortega said.

The only other witness in the departmental trial was a CCRB investigator who documented the tweets. An administrative law judge, Jeffrey Adler, will make a recommendation of guilty or innocent to Police Commissioner Dermot Shea, who will ultimately decide Mullins’ fate.

Shea will also review a separate case against Mullins for tweeting an arrest report of the mayor’s daughter, Chiara de Blasio, during a racial justice protest following the police killing of George Floyd. Mullins has argued he retweeted the report after it had already been posted in a media report. That trial resumes Wednesday.

Mullins has not been accused of any wrongdoing in connection with the FBI investigation.