NEW YORK >> Eric Adams, the mayor of New York City, today said the Staten Island district attorney should investigate Rudy Giuliani for falsely reporting a crime while campaigning for his son.

Giuliani had claimed that he was assaulted at a Staten Island supermarket, an allegation that resulted in the arrest of an employee there named Daniel Gill. But video footage later obtained by the New York Post showed Gill patting Giuliani on the back, seriously undermining Giuliani’s allegations that he had been physically assaulted and almost knocked down.

Those allegations were amplified by Giuliani’s son, Andrew Giuliani, who is competing for the Republican nomination for governor in Today’s primary.

Prosecutors ultimately downgraded their charges against Gill from second-degree assault, a felony, to third-degree assault, second-degree harassment, and third-degree menacing, all misdemeanors. Gill spent more than 24 hours in police custody.

Today, Adams said prosecutors should turn their attention to Giuliani instead.

“I think the district attorney, he has the wrong person that he’s investigating,” Adams said, during an unrelated media address in Harlem. “To falsely report a crime is a crime. If that video wasn’t there, then this person would have been charged with punching the former mayor.”

Adams said he was talking to the police commissioner, Keechant Sewell, about whether Giuliani’s actions themselves constituted a crime.

“When you look at the video, the guy basically walked by and patted him on the back,” Adams said. “It was clear that he was not punched in the head. It was clear that it didn’t feel like a bullet. It was clear that he wasn’t about to fall to the ground.”

Giuliani did not respond to a request for comment. The Legal Aid Society, which is representing Gill, had no immediate comment.

“The DA’s office is declining comment pending the open case and investigation,” said Ryan Lavis, a spokesperson for Michael McMahon, the Staten Island district attorney.

“What if we didn’t have the video?” the mayor asked Today. “This person would have been accused with a serious crime, when all he did was pat the guy on the back. You can’t do sensationalism to carry out your own agenda, and you can’t use the police to carry out your own agenda.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.