Rep. Ritchie Torres, a New York Democrat, slammed his hometown mayor, Eric Adams, for fining but not firing an employee accused of an act of antisemitic vandalism captured on video.
"The City and State should have a simple message for antisemites," Torres tweeted Sunday night. "You’re fired."
In a statement to Fox News Digital, the moderate Democrat doubled down.
"I would fire anyone who engaged in acts of antisemitism like tearing down posters of the hostages," Torres said. "I call on the Mayor to do the same. The City and the State should not only preach but also practice zero tolerance for antisemitism."
The Bronx lawmaker, who has frequently criticized his party's left wing for soft-on-crime policies and opposition to Israel, reacted to a New York Post story earlier in the day that alleged that a staffer in Adams' office paid to promote "unity" and "bridge cultural divides" was caught on camera ripping down posters showing Israeli hostages kidnapped by the Hamas terror group.
"If I were at the helm of [New York state] or [New York City] government, antisemites need not apply," Torres wrote. "Tearing down posters of hostages is completely unacceptable and would not be tolerated."
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According to a page on the city's website, which was visible only in an archived form Monday morning, the Mayor's Office of Special Projects and Community Events "organizes, plans, and executes public or private events and special projects that embraces and rejoices in the extraordinary cultural richness and range of our City." It listed less than a dozen employees, including the one alleged to be in the video tearing down posters.
By Monday afternoon, Adams' office had taken action, however.
"This individual has been suspended without pay pending further investigation," the mayor's office told Fox News Digital.
Hamas terrorists launched a sneak attack on Israel on Oct. 7. 2023, killing more than 1,200 people, including 46 Americans, in what the State Department said is "the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust." They also took 254 hostages that day, some of whom were later murdered.
Torres has been tearing into New York's Democratic leaders in recent days after floating that he may challenge Gov. Kathy Hochul.
In addition to rampant antisemtism and frequent anti-Israel protests in the city, he also blasted failed criminal justice reforms that he blamed for a triple homicide.
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The suspect in that case, Ramon Rivera, is a 51-year-old, eight-time repeat offender whose most recent jail stint involved attacking a correction officer in the psych ward at Bellevue Hospital.
"The bureaucrat in DOC [Department of Correction] who authorized the early release of Ramon should be fired," Torres wrote to Adams and Hochul last week. "Those who cannot be entrusted with public safety should no longer be employed by the people of New York."
Adams also placed some of the blame for the stabbing spree on Hochul, calling on Albany to give the city police greater power "to institutionalize people" during a news briefing last month.
