A Queens Democrat has sent out mailings illustrated with a swastika that label his rival for an open Assembly seat as an “extremist” who is “out of touch with our community’s values.”
Just days before a special election for a northeastern Queens seat, former Councilman David Weprin attacked Republican and Conservative party candidate Bob Friedrich with literature showing the Nazi symbol and text accusing his foe of not taking a tough enough stance against hate crimes.
One side of the ad shows police officers, crime scene tape, and a photoshopped swastika with the text: “Extreme Conservative Bob Friedrich Doesn’t Think Hate Crimes Deserve Special Punishment.”
Friedrich-who is Jewish-called the mailing “repugnant” and “offensive to all people.” He told the NY Post: “Hateful campaign tactics like this, using Nazi propaganda with a swastika, really is offensive … It goes beyond anything that I have ever seen in a campaign. I was sickened to my stomach when I saw it.”
Weprin-who is also Jewish-hasn’t commented on the mailers. But his campaign manager, Corey Bearak, confirmed they were sent out by the campaign. In a statement to the Daily News, Bearak said illustrating the ads with a swastika shouldn’t be considered offensive:
“It’s not offensive to make sure people know just home extreme Republican-Conservative Bob Friedrich is; this extremist opposes hate crimes legislation—it’s offensive that Republican Bob Friedrich actually opposes hate crimes legislation.”
(Source: http://gothamist.com/)
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7 Responses
HE NEEDS TO BE PUBLICLY ATTACKED FROM ALL ANGLES AND ASKED TO RESIGN THE RACE.
Weprin has got to go. He must be repudiated at the polls for such a despicable mailing.
As far as I know attacking a Jew does not make it “hate crime” even if the attacker is doing it right after hearing an antisemitic Louis Farrahkan speech unless he says something antisemitic as he does it and even then I’m not so sure.
But if anyone were to attack a Black person who did not say anything but who attended a Neo Nazi
event in the last month, it would still be called a hate crime.
This is obviously a double standard.
Hereorhere please enlighen us as to how you know this
I know this through personal experience as well as following the news and paying attention to the details.
For example it used to be standard reporting for some papers, that when a suspect was described
in an article there was a full description for Whites and for Blacks, skin color was always left out.
Also New York has created the Harvey Milk School specifically for gays “who have been harrassed”.
They would never created a specifically Jewish school but there are many schools that are all Black.
Do you think that White Rioters in Benhonshurst would be allowed to riot on and on against Blacks?
But the Crown Heioghts riots went on for 3 days with then, Mayor Dinkins, saying “let them vent”.
This is politics at its most desperate. Weprin convincingly lost in the primary last year (for NYC controller), and now he’s eager to get back into politics at any cost.
Even if Friedrich is against the overly PC usage of hate crimes, negating its benefit when there really is such a crime, I doubt he’s had any association with nazi groups.
Weprin, give it up.
I hope Weprin is not in my district.