A Jewish civil rights organization filed a Freedom of Information Act request to investigate why New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio singled out the Jewish community in a statement about social distancing.
The Lawfare Project, a civil rights group that focuses on issues related to the Jewish community and Israel, requested any documents related to de Blasio’s decision to single out Jewish people over social distancing violations on the same weekend that New Yorkers of all backgrounds gathered in close quarters to view the flyover of the Blue Angels.
De Blasio was hit with accusations of anti-Semitism because of a tweet he posted warning Jewish New Yorkers that they would be arrested or fined if they broke social distancing guidelines after the city’s police broke up a funeral gathering following the death of Chaim Mertz, a prominent rabbi.
“My message to the Jewish community, and all communities, is this simple: the time for warnings has passed,” de Blasio tweeted on April 28. “I have instructed the NYPD to proceed immediately to summons or even arrest those who gather in large groups. This is about stopping this disease and saving lives. Period.”
My message to the Jewish community, and all communities, is this simple: the time for warnings has passed. I have instructed the NYPD to proceed immediately to summons or even arrest those who gather in large groups. This is about stopping this disease and saving lives. Period.
— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) April 29, 2020
De Blasio later defended his remarks and said they were “said with love.” He added, “It’s not happened in other places. Let’s be honest. This kind of gathering has happened in only a few places, and it cannot continue. It’s endangering the lives of people in the community. It was thousands of people. Can we just have an honest conversation here?”
The Lawfare Project disagreed with de Blasio’s assertion that social distancing violations have “not happened in other places.” In its FOIA request, the Lawfare Project demanded communications related to the funeral of Mertz, the New York Police Department’s response to the funeral, the Blue Angels flyover, and any other documentation of arrests or citations given to individuals who violated social distancing orders.
“We will always fight to protect and preserve the civil and human rights of the Jewish community. It is outrageous for the mayor, charged with protecting the rights of all New Yorkers, to seemingly selectively enforce the law only against the Jewish community. That is the essence of anti-Semitism, and it must stop,” said Brooke Goldstein, executive director of the Lawfare Project, in a statement to the Washington Examiner.
Gerard Filitti, senior counsel at the Lawfare Project, said that de Blasio’s singling out of Jews was illegal and noted that it could spark future incidents of anti-Semitic violence in a city that has already seen such crimes on the rise.
“The Lawfare Project is concerned that, at a time when anti-Semitic hate crimes are skyrocketing in New York City, Mayor de Blasio has added fuel to the fire by singling out the entire Jewish community for the spread of the coronavirus, even threatening its members with arrest. In light of the mayor’s outrageous statement, we have filed FOIL requests to investigate whether the mayor and the NYPD have taken actions that have disproportionately — and unlawfully — targeted the Jewish community,” Filitti said.
The state law requires that the city responds to the request within five business days of receiving it. If the city denies the request or does not respond, the Lawfare Project can appeal.
