BREAKING: Mayor Admits He Failed to Properly Express Outrage to Cops Using Squad Cars as Battering Rams

It took more than a day and a half, but Mayor de Blasio finally and clearly condemned the actions of several police officers who drove their squad cars into crowds of protesters, saying "there is no situation" when that kind of action should occur.

But at his daily press conference this morning, the mayor did cling to the notion that there may have been "extenuating circumstances" that provided a context for what appeared so horrifically violent on multiple videos.

The mayor opened with comments about the videos, and referred to his prior comments that suggested the officers might have had a reason for their violent actions:

That said, it is unclear if the use of squad cars is such an isolated incident. Beyond the police violence on Saturday in Brooklyn, there have been isolated reports and videos of other NYPD officers using their cars as weapons.

"On Sunday night at around 1 am on Broadway and 12th Street, I witnessed police erratically drive an SUV onto the sidewalk in an attempt to hit a protestor," a witness told Streetsblog this morning. "Earlier, I witnessed another white sedan ride dangerously ... through a crowd on a Soho street, dispersing them. We already saw police use vehicles as weapons during the daytime; the media should keep a close eye on this in the hours after midnight."

The mayor also comment on a video posted by Gothamist's Jake Offenhartz from Sunday night featuring an officer pulling his gun on a crowd of protesters.

"That officer should have his gun and badge taken away today," the mayor said.