Having spent the better part of a week dodging questions about the appearance of multiple Thin Blue Line flags on NYPD property, Mayor Bill de Blasio is now trying a new tack: Blaming #FakeNews.

During his weekly NY1 interview on Monday night, the mayor was asked whether the controversial symbols—seen by many as a racist repudiation of Black Lives Matter—should be permitted on police property. He responded:

"I’ve asked today just recently, ‘Do we have any actual evidence that this has happened in precincts?' I don’t have anything that actually proves to me that it’s even happened. Before I get too much in a discussion I need to know if this is real or just presumed."

The mayor went on to suggest that it's "common sense" that some symbols are allowed on NYPD property and others are not—without specifying the category to which the Blue Lives Matter flag belongs.

"Again, I haven’t seen that, so until I have that confirmed, I’m not going to..." he continued. "There’s a lot of photoshop in this world, so we’ll see."

Today at the 145th st MTA station in Manhattan, NYC I saw this hanging in front of the MTA police station. With the increase of the police presence in the subways, flags like these only function to make black and brown people feel less safe taking public transportation. pic.twitter.com/8DjHHn07ja — Alexandra Moffett-Bateau (@AlexMBateau) December 1, 2019

The flags were recently spotted in station houses in South Brooklyn and Harlem. Photos were shared with Gothamist by a rabbi and a CUNY professor, and the flags' presence was further confirmed by multiple New Yorkers.

In other cities, flying the Thin Blue Line on government property has ginned up significant controversy—culminating in municipal and state-level interventions. Typically, proponents argue say the symbol merely represents solidarity with law enforcement, while police reform advocates see a more loaded message, implicating race and officer accountability.

The symbol first gained popularity among cops in response to the rise of Black Lives Matter, and has since been adopted by neo-Nazis and white supremacists. Flags of other agencies, including the FDNY-aligned Thin Red Line flag visible in the Harlem subway station, have not found similar traction among extremist groups.

As of Tuesday morning, both displays at the 145th Street and St. Nicholas subway station had been removed. Several transit cops in the area declined to answer questions about when the framed banner was ordered taken down.

Dr. Alexandra Moffett-Bateau, a local resident and political science professor at John Jay College, told Gothamist that "people in Harlem are very familiar with this particular police demonstration." She'd seen it as recently as Sunday; others shared photos of the flag in the same location as far back as June.

The mayor's refusal to acknowledge the truth, the professor added, is hardly surprising, given the sway of the NYPD. "It’s a good way to delay on having to act on it, to question the validity of community members coming forward with concern."

She continued, "He's just trying to buy time to see what the impact is going to be politically if he does what he knows he has to do, which is tell the NYPD they can't keep flying white supremacist symbols in black neighborhoods."

The NYPD did not respond to repeated inquiries.

In an email, mayoral spokesperson Freddi Goldstein apologized "for any wrong impression" that de Blasio had accused Gothamist of fabricating photos, and promised further updates soon.

Additional reporting by Charline Charles.

UPDATE: The spokesperson for the Mayor's Office told Gothamist that the flags in Harlem and South Brooklyn have been identified and removed.