BOSTON — Mayor Michelle Wu has doubled down on her “second chance” rhetoric even after one of her own city employees was arrested in a violent roadside clash with a state trooper and charged with possessing a fully automatic Glock.

Nasiru Ibrahim, 25, worked in the city’s property management department. On July 30, a Massachusetts State Police trooper pulled him over on Old Colony Avenue after noticing his “extremely nervous demeanor.” What followed was chaos caught on body-worn and dash camera video:

• Ibrahim allegedly tried to flee by throwing his car into drive.
• The trooper dove head-first through the driver’s window to stop him.
• Ibrahim grabbed the trooper’s Taser and used it against him.
• After a struggle, police found a Glock handgun fitted with a “Glock switch” — converting it into a fully automatic machine gun — wrapped in a City of Boston sweatshirt.

Ibrahim now faces five felony charges, including possession of a machine gun and carrying a large-capacity feeding device. He pleaded not guilty and is being held on $750,000 bail.

Wu defends hiring criminals

Asked how a man with prior violent and firearm charges ended up on the city payroll, Wu insisted Boston “holds city workers to incredibly high standards.” She then pivoted into airy talking points about “second chances” and “pathways” for ex-offenders.

“We have many programs that the city has created to ensure that individuals can get a second chance,” Wu told WCVB. “All of that is under investigation right now.”

But to many, her response sounded less like leadership in a crisis and more like a classroom lecture.

A mayor out of her depth

The image of a trooper being shocked with his own Taser while a Wu hire sat on a machine gun has left residents wondering just how “high” the mayor’s standards really are.

Instead of ordering an overhaul of hiring practices, Wu promised an “internal review.” Instead of confronting the fact that a taxpayer-funded employee allegedly fought a trooper in traffic, she waxed poetic about rehabilitation programs.

For critics, it’s yet another sign Wu is in over her head — a little girl mayor playing pretend while criminals collect city paychecks.

Boston doesn’t need lectures about “pathways.” It needs a mayor who takes public safety seriously.