The Lengthy Island city that employed a visitors professional who later admitted in court docket that his private views may very well be seen as bigoted has fired the guide and backtracked on its earlier protection of him.
Jeffrey Buckholz was terminated by the City of Oyster Bay simply hours after The Publish uncovered his long-string of hateful and anti-Muslim LinkedIn posts, and his sworn admission that he may very well be thought-about a bigot beneath oath, in line with city officers and court docket information.
Buckholz, was employed by city officers to check visitors round a neighborhood mosque in a long-standing lawsuit battle between Oyster Bay and the Muslims of Lengthy Island group, which needs to broaden a mosque in Bethpage.
“We’re shocked and outraged to study of this, and are instantly dismissing him from this case,” Oyster Bay Supervisor Joseph Saladino stated Thursday.
Throughout his Oct. 3 deposition within the federal swimsuit filed by the Muslim group towards the city, Buckholz admitted that his views on Muslims and immigrants may very well be thought-about bigoted, in line with the official transcript.
He additionally doubled down on the racist social media posts that littered over on his skilled LinkedIn, in line with the court docket transcript.
The posts included liking one which stated “Muslims can f–ok off,” commenting that “they wish to conquer us” beneath a publish about Mayor Eric Adams declaring Prophet Muhammad’s birthday a vacation, and joking “gators gotta eat too” beneath a publish about migrants in Alligator Alcatraz, in line with court docket docs and screenshots of his social media obtained by The Publish.
Below oath, Buckholz stated he opposed “importing outdoors cultures into the US,” which he referred to as a “Christian nation,” described the Islamic name to prayer as “atrocious,” and claimed New York Metropolis mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani poses “a much bigger menace to New York than the 9/11 hijackers,” in line with his sworn deposition.
However Saladino’s assertion of concern sharply contrasts the city’s personal remark from only a day earlier — wherein City Lawyer Frank Scalera fiercely defended Buckholz.
Earlier than The Publish’s report, Scalera blasted MOLI’s movement to have the so-called professional’s visitors evaluation tossed and bar him from testifying on the premise that he’s tainted with bias as a “foreign-based regulation agency trying to show this native land-use case right into a political spectacle.”
Scalera additionally accused the group’s Linklaters attorneys of “soiled techniques” and “dragging President Trump’s title, immigration insurance policies, and core American values” into the case, calling it a “frivolous” try to stress the city into approving the mosque’s enlargement.
Now, lower than 24 hours later, those self same officers are strolling again their protection and distancing themselves from Buckholz, claiming they have been unaware of his racist posts or deposition remarks till they have been made public.
The city’s reversal provides but one other twist to the years-long federal discrimination case, which has already seen the Justice Division intervene on behalf of MOLI and Oyster Bay officers admit beneath oath to making a pretend grandma witness whereas altering zoning legal guidelines to focus on non-Christian homes of worship.
“We welcome the City’s choice to withdraw Mr. Buckholz,” Linklaters legal professional Muhammad Faridi advised The Publish.
“His open prejudice epitomized the bias that has tainted this course of from the beginning. His involvement made clear that this case has by no means been about professional land-use considerations — it has been about discrimination and poor judgment,” he added.
