Queens Metropolis Council Member Vickie Paladino, pictured in a file picture. Paladino is dealing with authorized threats and requires an ethics investigation after being accused of constructing false and inflammatory statements in regards to the associate of slain activist Ryan Carson.
Photograph by John McCarten/NYC Council Media Unit
Metropolis Council Member Vickie Paladino is dealing with authorized threats and requires a Metropolis Council ethics investigation after the associate of slain Brooklyn activist Ryan Carson accused the Queens Republican of constructing false and inflammatory statements that she says endangered her security.
In a stop and desist letter despatched July 16 to Paladino, legal professional Maryanne Okay. Kaishian alleges that the lawmaker used her social media account to unfold misinformation about Claudia Morales’ actions following Carson’s 2023 homicide in Brooklyn.
“Your misuse of elected office to defame a private citizen for political gain has forced Ms. Morales to seek legal representation, and we are formally demanding that you cease and desist all such communications concerning our client and issue a public apology for your defamatory statements,” Kaishian wrote.
Kaishian mentioned Paladino’s remarks had been prompted after Morales, a political activist, posted a photograph with Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani on July 12.
Paladino — who gained fame in 2017 by yelling at then-Mayor Invoice de Blasio in a viral video and has a historical past of frightening controversy — has not too long ago confronted criticism for doubling down on requires Mamdani’s deportation.
“She has a very long and well-documented history of behavior like this,” Morales informed New York News. “This was something done knowingly and deliberately … it is deplorable and dangerous for her to do so within her position and influence, and responsibility as an elected official.”
Paladino’s workplace didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
Claudia Morales poses with Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani in images she posted to social media earlier this month. The publish drew on-line assaults and false claims from Metropolis Council Member Vickie Paladino, Morales’ legal professional alleges.Pictures courtesy of Claudia Morales
‘Re-traumatized’
Brian Dowling, 18 on the time, fatally stabbed Ryan Carson within the early hours of Oct. 2, 2023, as he and Morales waited at a bus cease on Malcolm X Boulevard and Lafayette Avenue after attending a pal’s wedding ceremony.
Dowling was arrested days after the unprovoked killing and was sentenced in February to twenty years to life in jail.
Kaishian mentioned Paladino falsely claimed Morales delayed calling 911 due to her political opinions and interfered with the investigation to guard the suspect.
In a now-deleted publish on X, previously generally known as Twitter, Paladino wrote that Morales “didn’t immediately call the police because the murderer was nonwhite and her politics dictate that police are the real evil.”
Ryan Carson and Claudia Morales Morales says his loss has been compounded by harassment following false claims made about her on-line.Photograph courtesy of Claudia Morales
In accordance with Kaishian, Morales instantly referred to as for assist, “desperately” tried to render first support, and totally cooperated with regulation enforcement, together with testifying earlier than a grand jury that indicted Dowling.
The letter additionally criticized Paladino for allegedly claiming that Morales made herself a “DSA celebrity” after Carson’s homicide, writing that “if she’s going to politicize the murder of her boyfriend, then the street goes both ways.”
Kaishian argued that such statements present Paladino’s “intent to continue to engage in this dangerous behavior and constitute an ongoing threat to Ms. Morales’ safety.”
Morales mentioned Wednesday she felt “destabilized” and “re-traumatized” by Paladino’s preliminary feedback. She mentioned she had had no direct interplay with Paladino earlier than the council member posted the now-deleted accusations round Carson’s homicide.
“Immediately I received replies … jeering at me, or further defaming, harassing me,” Morales mentioned. “People telling me that they believed her instead of me, even after she took down the initial post.”
Inflaming ‘a violent political climate’
Morales, who mentioned she fears harassment and threats from Paladino’s followers, described the council member’s rhetoric as inflaming “a violent and divided political climate.”
“I feel unsafe … what I fear is people like Council Member Paladino and the followers that she emboldens in a violent and divided political climate that she continues to stoke,” Morales mentioned. “Her tweets create an environment where harassment and even violence towards me is portrayed as not just justified but righteous.”
The copy of the stop and desist letter was additionally despatched to Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and Council Requirements and Ethics Committee Chair Sandra Ung.
Kaishian confirmed she had not heard from Paladino or her workplace as of Wednesday night however mentioned the matter had been referred to the Metropolis Council’s common counsel.
“We are considering taking further legal action, whether or not there is a response,” Kaishian mentioned, including they imagine Paladino’s actions violated constitutional protections.
Morales mentioned she is “cautiously hopeful” the Metropolis Council will maintain Paladino accountable.
A spokesperson for Adams mentioned the Speaker finds Paladino’s social media feedback, together with her latest remarks, “disgusting and offensive.”
“The Speaker has referred the matter to the Committee on Standards and Ethics, which has jurisdiction over Council member discipline,” Speaker Adams’ spokesperson Rendy Desamours mentioned. “Consistent with democratic principles, the Speaker of the City Council cannot unilaterally take action to discipline members who were democratically elected by voters.”
Council Member Sandra Ung, who chairs the Ethics Committee, mentioned she couldn’t touch upon any doable proceedings as a consequence of confidentiality guidelines.
