A Lengthy Island city locked in a federal discrimination lawsuit employed a site visitors knowledgeable accused of overtly hating Muslims, beating coworkers, and submitting a “sham” site visitors research round an area mosque, in keeping with court docket paperwork.
Jeffrey Buckholz admitted he was a “bigot” in a pre-trial deposition on Oct. 3 in a long-standing lawsuit battle between the City of Oyster Bay and the Muslims of Lengthy Island group, which desires to develop a mosque in Bethpage.
After discovering that Buckholz’s LinkedIn account was riddled with racist and anti-Muslim posts, attorneys for MOLI referred to as him in for a deposition final week the place he admitted to and doubled down on his views.
“Perhaps that makes me a bigot, however so be it,” Buckholz mentioned below oath about his views on Muslims and immigrants, in keeping with the official transcript from his sworn deposition.
The posts included liking one which mentioned “Muslims can f–okay off.”
He additionally commented that “they wish to conquer us” below a submit about Mayor Eric Adams declaring prophet Muahmmad’s birthday a vacation, and joked that “Gators gotta eat too” below a submit about migrants in Alligator Alcatraz, in keeping with court docket docs and screenshots of his social media obtained by The Put up.
However as an alternative of strolling again his posts, Buckholz defended them, in keeping with the deposition transcript.
He mentioned on the document that he opposed “importing outdoors cultures into the US,” which he known as a “Christian nation,” referred to as the Islamic name to prayer “atrocious,” and believes New York Metropolis mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani poses “a much bigger risk to New York than the 9/11 hijackers,” in keeping with the deposition transcript.
Buckholz additionally admitted that his scathing site visitors evaluation of the mosque was primarily based primarily on Google Maps screenshots and only a five-minute web site go to earlier than submitting his report, in keeping with the transcript.
“I’ve been doing this for 40 years. I do know what I’m taking a look at — Google Maps and expertise inform you a large number,” Buckholz mentioned when questioned on why he didn’t conduct site visitors counts, evaluate earlier stories, or level to any precise knowledge in his evaluation, solely citing “frequent sense” in his willpower that there are “extreme site visitors issues of safety” on the mosque’s location, in keeping with court docket paperwork.
However MOLI’s attorneys mentioned years of site visitors and parking research by the city’s personal engineers and Nassau County officers had already discovered the mosque’s plan protected and compliant — rejecting the very arguments Buckholz later recycled in his report.
Attorneys for MOLI are actually asking the choose to throw out Buckholz’s report altogether and forestall him from testifying in any respect, calling his evaluation “irreparably tainted by prejudice, violence, and fabrication,” alongside along with his site visitors report which Linklater’s attorneys likened to a “sham.”
“His testimony isn’t just unreliable, however dangerously tainted by bias,” Likelater’s lawyer Muhammad Faridi instructed The Put up, including that Buckholz’s violent previous solely underscores his lack of credibility.
Court docket filings obtained by The Put up revealed a sample of aggression stretching again a long time — together with his expulsion from the Massachusetts Institute of Know-how after brutally beating a classmate and a Florida Division of Transportation ruling that completely banned him from coming into state contracts after he punched an inspector and shoved a girl co-worker.
Judges in each circumstances described him as having a violent mood and a historical past of abusive conduct, in keeping with court docket information.
Buckholz, nevertheless, instructed The Put up that his “private emotions haven’t any affect on the standard of my skilled work,” in an e mail from his work account.
The City of Oyster Bay, which beforehand admitted to fabricating a faux grandma witness and passing legal guidelines aimed particularly aimed on the mosque below oath in court docket earlier this 12 months, has since defended Buckholz — blasting MOLI’s movement to toss his testimony as a politically motivated smear marketing campaign by a “foreign-based legislation agency.”
“President Trump’s title, immigration insurance policies, and core American values are being dragged into depositions and background searches, proving political views are driving this frivolous case. It’s fallacious!,” mentioned City Legal professional Frank Scalera.
The case, as soon as seemingly resolved, is now extra heated than ever because the Justice Division has stepped in whereas either side put together for a protracted struggle forward.
