New York Metropolis Councilwoman Vickie Paladino was charged with disorderly conduct by the Metropolis Council Ethics Committee on March 3 for Islamophobic tweets she posted on social media.
Picture by Emil Cohen/NYC Council Media Unit
New York Metropolis Councilwoman Vickie Paladino is as soon as once more within the sizzling seat because the Metropolis Council Ethics Committee charged her with disorderly conduct on March 3 for Islamophobic tweets she posted on her X account, one in every of which was directed at Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s chief immigration officer appointee, Linda Sarsour.
“New York is under foreign occupation. There’s really no other way to put it,” Paladino’s submit responding to the appointment on Feb. 17 stated. “Does this administration have one single actual American in it?”
Sarsour, a hijabi lady and pro-Palestinian activist, was born in Brooklyn and is an American citizen.
One among Paladino’s posts about Linda Sarsour, who was appointed the chief immigration officer by Mayor Zohran Mamdani.Vickie Paladino on X
“The Committee on Rules, Privileges, Elections, Standards, and Ethics met on Monday and voted to charge Council Member Paladino with engaging in disorderly behavior and violating the Council’s Anti-Harassment and Discrimination Policy,” a spokesperson from the Metropolis Council wrote to QNS on Thursday. “The charge was based on Council Member Paladino’s conduct on social media.”
Paladino — a Republican representing District 19 communities together with Whitestone, School Level, Bayside, Little Neck, Douglaston and elements of North Flushing — is given 5 days from the date costs have been introduced ahead, March 3, to supply a written response.
She’s going to then be scheduled within the coming weeks to seem earlier than the committee in govt session.
In response to council guidelines, disciplinary actions can fluctuate, together with censure, fines, elimination of privileges, obligatory coaching, suspension or expulsion.
The disciplinary course of might be carried out by the 9 member committee and would must be authorized two-thirds of the 52-member Metropolis Council.
Paladino’s group has not responded to QNS’s request for additional remark as of press time, however the councilwoman responded to the fees Tuesday night on X, calling them an “unconstitutional scheme to violate [her] first amendment rights.”
She referred to her feedback on social media as “political discourse in the public square” and claimed they have been protected by the Structure.
Paladino responded to the ethics committee’s costs on her X account on March 3.Vickie Paladino on X
Nevertheless, an ACLU reality sheet factors out that the Structure doesn’t shield speech constituted as harassment, incitement, true threats or combating phrases.
The ethics committee is particularly charging Paladino with harassment and discrimination.
Paladino is thought for her incendiary posts on social media, which have focused Muslims and different minority communities prior to now.
In Could 2024, she referred to college students on faculty campuses protesting Israel bombing on Gaza as “monsters” and calling to “slay” them.
She additionally known as for Mamdani, a naturalized American citizen since 2018, to be deported this previous June, and was kicked off the Council’s Committee on Psychological Well being, Disabilities and Dependancy in Could 2023 after claiming Drag Story Hour NYC was “grooming” kids and exposing them to “sexual content.”
Paladino known as college students protesting Israel bombing Gaza “monsters” and stated it’s our job to “slay” them.Vickie Paladino on X
Paladino known as for the deportation of then mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, a naturalized American citizen since 2018.Vickie Paladino on X
Sarsour herself had known as out Paladino in December for a tweet the councilwoman posted calling for the denaturalization and “expulsion of Muslims from western nations.”
Paladino’s tweet was in response to the antisemitic mass capturing at Bondi Seashore in Australia throughout a Hanukkah celebration.
Paladino known as for the denaturalization and expulsion of Muslims from western nations in a since-deleted tweet on X.Vickie Paladino on X
Customers have since identified the irony that Ahmed al-Ahmed, a Muslim Australian citizen, helped detain the shooters.
“Welcome to the NYC Council,” Sarsour wrote on Fb on Dec. 15. “Anyone working on censuring this woman or stripping her of any committee positions or is that only for Muslim women?”
Paladino has additionally accused in style Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, a Muslim man who covers leftist politics on the platform, of “telling his followers to make suicide drones.”
Piker swiftly responded to Paladino’s accusations on X saying, “be on the lookout for a defamation suit councilwoman!” simply hours earlier than she posted in response to the ethics committee costs.
Twitch streamer and leftist politics commentator Hasan Piker threatened Paladino with a defamation swimsuit after she accused him of telling followers to make suicide drones.
