By Ellen Cans
New York Attorney General Letitia James sued an ice cream shop owner for allegedly falsely reporting that Black Lives Matter protesters were threatening to shoot him. The suit utilizes the new law put in place in June, which makes it illegal to make false, race-based complaints to the police.
As reported by the NY Post, David Elmendorf drew protesters near his shop in June 2020 after racist text messages he allegedly sent which circulated on social media. The texts included racial slurs, and one message had allegedly said, “I don’t hire black people,” as per court papers. Elmendorf is the owner of an upstate ice cream shop in Schenectady county, named Bumpy’s Polar Freeze, which has since been shuttered, due to alleged failure to correct a health code violation, and allegedly not enforcing COVID-19 restrictions.
The lawsuit against Elmendorf was filed on Wednesday, by James in the Schenectady County Supreme Court. The suit alleges that at one of the BLM protests on June 30, the group “stood peacefully on the porch of a private house near Bumpy’s”, but that Elmendorf shouted insults at the crowd, including the n-word. “If you come over here I’m going to shoot you” Elmendorf had allegedly said. “I’ll kill all you f—-ing n—-rs,” the court documents quote him to say.
Elmendorf had then called 911, saying that there were “20 armed protesters who were threatening to shoot him,” court papers allege. Later on when 50 protesters had showed up in response to his rants, Elmendorf holding a .22-caliber air rifle pellet gun, threatened, “I’ll run you n—-rs over with my truck,” the court documents allege. Police had stopped Elmendorf, and found the pellet gun, a can of ammunition and a rifle scope in his possession. The criminal charges are pending, and Elmendorf has pleaded not guilty.
James’ suit is the first to use the “Central Park Karen” case, and James said her office can now sue anyone who calls the police with false, race-based reports. James added that the suit “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”.
Criminal defense attorney, James Mermigis, told The NY Post his client, Elmendorf, “categorically denies all allegations. We will get justice once all of the evidence comes out.” Mermigis also maintained that Elmendorf was defending himself and being attacked by protesters, that one of his friends was beaten up by them.
