Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Nassau County’s Jewish executive calls on Democratic leader to quit for invoking Nazis

The Democratic leader of the county legislature said she was conveying a comparison made by one of many constituents who have expressed fears over a plan to enlist provisional deputy sheriffs

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, who is Jewish, is calling on the Democratic leader of the county legislature to step down after she likened his plan to enlist provisional deputy sheriffs to the Brownshirts, the Nazi’s paramilitary army.

But Democrat Delia DeRiggi-Whitton, minority leader of the 19-seat Nassau County Legislature, said Thursday that while she would not make the comparison, a constituent of hers did in an email, which she shared with the Forward. She said many others conveyed similar anxiety over the plan to her, and she wanted to convey their fears.

Text of an email Delia DeRiggi-Whitton, minority leader of the Nassau County Legislature, received from a constituent over a plan to enlist provisional deputy sheriffs. Courtesy of Delia DeRiggi-Whitton

 

Blakeman seized on her comments Wednesday to Patch, a Long Island publication. The plan reminds her constituents “not only of the Wild West but of times in Europe with uncertainty,” DeRiggi-Whitton said. “There was something called the Brownshirts, which was basically having civilians all of a sudden become part of law enforcement without the training.”

Blakeman said her invocation the Brownshirts was slanderous and antisemitic. He is expected to call for her resignation Thursday afternoon in a press conference alongside a group of local rabbis, Jewish leaders and elected officials.

“I think it’s disgraceful and disgusting that a leader in our legislature would equate me to being head of the Brownshirts, a Nazi stormtrooper organization, especially because I’m Jewish,” Blakeman said in an interview Thursday morning. “She is beyond the pale when it comes to making those kinds of statements and she doesn’t deserve to be in office.” 

Blakeman, a Republican, in 2022 became the first Jewish executive of Nassau County, which covers the eastern part of Long Island, New York, and borders New York City. Jews make up 19% of the county’s 1.4 million people.

He said the recently launched database — of mostly former law enforcement officers and military veterans who could be deputized as special sheriffs in emergencies — includes nearly 100 volunteers.

“I can’t even tell you how many people are telling me that this is a scary thing,” DeRiggi-Whitton said Thursday. “Having a county leader declare an emergency and have a whole bunch of armed people ready to go?” 

Blakeman dismissed concerns about the plan. He said the deputies would be akin to reservists and would be mobilized only in dire situations like a superstorm or terror attack. 

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.