Aaron Schlossberg, center, at a May 2017 rally. Image by Twitter Screenshot

By Ari Feldman May 16, 2018

A Jewish lawyer in New York was caught berating Spanish-speaking workers at a Manhattan restaurant and threatening to call immigration agents on them in a clip shared widely on social media.

Aaron Schlossberg had a meltdown in a Fresh Kitchen in East Midtown Wednesday morning after hearing some of the employees speak Spanish to one another and to Spanish-speaking customers, Gothamist first reported.

“Every person I listen to — he’s speaking it, she’s speaking it. This is America!” the man shouted. The man appeared to be filming the encounter, as did one of the employees and other customers in the restaurant.

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“Your clients and your staff are speaking Spanish to staff when they should be speaking English,” the man said to the manager. “My guess is they’re undocumented, so my next call is to ICE to have each one of them taken out of my country. If they have the balls to come here and live off my money — I pay for their welfare. I pay for their ability to be here.”

Online observers quickly identified the man as Aaron Schlossberg, a commercial lawyer with offices near Madison Avenue and 40th Street in Manhattan. Schlossberg graduated from George Washington University Law School and has been licensed by the New York State Courts System since 2003.

Stephen Gillers, a professor of legal ethics at NYU, told the Forward that Schlossberg won’t be disbarred.

“Mr. Schlossberg could be disciplined for this conduct but it will not lead to disbarment. A lawyer can be disciplined for conduct even if the conduct is unrelated to work for a client,” he said.

“Factors a disciplinary committee will consider in deciding what if any discipline is warranted include extenuating circumstances and whether Mr. Schlossberg has prior discipline. If he does not, I think the most serious discipline he could face would be a private admonition if he has a clean record. That means the discipline will not become public,” he told the Forward.

Some took to Schlossberg’s professional Facebook page to rate the attorney— giving him only one star. He does not appear to have a personal page.

Videos surfaced of Schlossberg at earlier rallies standing and yelling with pro-Trump protesters.

Schlossberg was at a May 2017 rally gathered in support of Milo Yiannapoulos and Pamela Geller, who were giving speeches protesting an upcoming commencement speech by Linda Sarsour. He can be heard chanting “You are not a Jew!” and “Milo!” at protesters gathered in support of Sarsour.

The video of Schlossberg raging in Fresh Kitchen was first posted to Facebook by a man who said his wife was at the restaurant when the incident occurred.

“What a big man talking down to couple of women and a helpless employee,” Suazo wrote. “I wish someone tells me I can’t speak in my native language ! First of all they wasn’t talking to you !! Asshole !”

In the video, Schlossberg suggests that the woman filming him should not eat the sandwich she’s holding.

“Maybe you should get hit by a car!” she responds.

Schlossberg’s website says he is fluent in Spanish.

Haley Cohen contributed reporting.

Contact Ari Feldman at feldman@forward.com or on Twitter @aefeldman

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