Stay updated with breaking news from James mermigis. Get real-time updates on events, politics, business, and more. Visit us for reliable news and exclusive interviews.
Share Source: AP Photo/Frank Franklin II The New York Attorney General’s “Hate Crimes and Bias Prevention Unit” brought its inaugural lawsuit earlier this week against upstate ice cream shop owner David Elmendorf. Filed by state AG Letitia James, the lawsuit alleges that a late June “peaceful protest” taking place outside of Elmendorf’s business, Bumpy’s Polar Freeze, was disturbed when the shop’s owner unnecessarily called the police. The protesters were organized outside the business in response to alleged text messages from Elmendorf in which he espoused racial epithets and racist business practices. The civil court charges “against David Elmendorf should serve as a warning that hate crimes will not be tolerated on my watch, and we will not allow any individual to use the color of someone’s skin as a weapon,” said AG James in a statement. ....
The lawsuit against the former owner of Bumpy’s Polar Freeze is the first case brought by Attorney General Letitia James (D) under a new provision that makes it a crime to file a false, “racially-motivated” police report. ....
A criminal complaint accuses the ice cream stand owner of calling 911 to falsely report that armed protesters were threatening to shoot him, referring to Black. ....
Attorney General Letitia James on Wednesday filed her lawsuit against David Elmendorf, who allegedly filed a false police report about protesters outside his store in Schenectady last summer. ....
The suit, filed Wednesday in Schenectady Supreme Court, is the first brought by the AG’s office under a law passed by the Legislature last year that allows the state to sue people motivated by racial or other bias who call police “without reason to suspect a violation of the penal law.” ....