Elected officials: Police rally singer "a bigot" (Updated three times)

After the Nassau PBA posted an invitation on its Facebook page to attend a "Back the Blue" rally at Eisenhower Park tomorrow, there was immediate pushback.

Democratic elected officials and others were outraged, but not by the rally itself.

After all, demonstrations have popped up out across Long Island in support of police after thousands of Black Lives Matters protestors demanded the defunding of police following the May 25 murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis at the hands of city police officers.

Instead, they were incensed over the choice of national anthem singer:  Ted Nugent

Nugent is a hard-rock musician who has been around since the 1960s. But comments made by the now-71-year-old conservative singer have angered many people around the country, leading six elected Nassau Democrats to issue this statement:

“Ted Nugent is a bigot.” said the legislature's Minority leader Kevan Abrahams of Freeport along with Democratic legislators Siela Bynoe of Westbury, Carrié Solages of Valley Stream,  Debra Mulé  of Freeport,  Ellen  Birnbaum of Great Neck and Arnold Drucker of Plainview. (see news release below)

“During his life in the public eye, Ted Nugent has consistently espoused racist, misogynistic,
homophobic, anti-Semitic and xenophobic bile, " they said. "The vitriol he espouses is an affront to the promise of ‘liberty and justice for all’ that is central to our nation’s Pledge of Allegiance. He is
the last person who should ever have the high honor of performing the National Anthem before
any public gathering in Nassau County’s most prominent park.”

They want Nugent disinvited.

County Executive Laura Curran, a Democrat, also weighed in on her Facebook page and Twitter account.

"Extremely disappointed that Ted Nugent, a man with a history of hate-filled speech, is invited to attend Saturday’s rally in Nassau. Our Police Department is the finest in the Country and our officers deserve admiration in a setting that we can all be proud of. There is no room for bigotry or bias, of any kind, in Nassau County - not from Ted Nugent or anyone else.‬"

Some examples of Nugent's objectionable comments:

In 2014, Nugent called then President Barack Obama "a communist-nurtured subhuman mongrel" in and interview with Guns.com

African-Americans, he said in 2013, could fix “the black problem” if they just put their “heart and soul into being honest, law-abiding..."

He called Hillary Clinton a " worthless bitch”and was quoted as saying "What's a feminist? Some fat pig who doesn't get it often enough?"


In 1990, he was quoted in the Detroit Free Press saying, "Apartheid isn't that cut-and-dry. All men are not created equal." 

Of course, rappers also use anti-female, anti-police rhetoric in their songs. But police don't generally invite them to rallies.

The PBA isn't the sponsor of tomorrow's event. The rally is sponsored by the not-for-profit group called Law Enforcement Officers Weekend, which was created in 2017 to support families of law enforcement officers injured or killed in the line of duty, according to its website.

But, interestingly,  the PBA now appears to have deleted its Facebook invitation to tomorrow's rally.

UPDATE:  Looks like Nugent is not coming to Eisenhower Park after all.

In the face of the Nassau Democrat's statement,  Patch.com reported that the PBA this afternoon backed away from Nugent.

"We do not and will not condone his remarks and views, and have advised the event's organizers that we will not participate in or support any rally that he attends," wrote President of the Nassau County PBA James McDermott, according to Patch.

Then Curran put out a statement that Nugent would not attend the rally because his appearance would violate the state's quarantine laws.

 UPDATED SECOND TIME:

As expected, Democratic legislators took a Victory lap.

“We have been advised that Ted Nugent is no longer a part of this weekend’s scheduled rally at Eisenhower Park," Minority leader Abrahams said in a statement. "While we are glad that the Nassau County Police Benevolent Association came to its senses and publicly disavowed its support for this event, we remain deeply troubled by their decision to use official PBA social media platforms to support and promote the participation of such a bigoted, divisive individual.”

Abrahams added, “We were outraged by Ted Nugent’s presence because we have deep respect and appreciation for the thousands of Nassau County law enforcement officers that faithfully honor their oath and work diligently to uphold the values of dignity, honor and respect as they serve and protect our communities. They deserve better than the hatred that Ted Nugent continues to espouse.”

THIRD UPDATE:

With Nugent out, the PBA is back in again.

The police union just posted on its Facebook page that it intends to attend the Eisenhower Park rally and urged everyone to come out and support the police.

Here is the post:

A Pro-Law Enforcement Rally is scheduled for tomorrow in Eisenhower Park. This event was not organized nor sponsored by the Nassau PBA. However, once we learned of it, we were glad to see citizens standing up to anti-police protestors and expressing their support for Nassau County Police Officers.
Within the last 24 hours the PBA learned that Ted Nugent, who was invited by the organizers of the event, has a long history of making distasteful comments, and has beliefs that are not representative of those held by our Association. We do not condone Mr. Nugent’s past remarks, and immediately told the event’s organizers that although we were invited as guests to show support for law enforcement, the PBA would not participate in a rally that he attends.

The event organizers responded to advise that Mr. Nugent will not perform at the event. We are pleased that this distraction has been resolved, as it is crucial that those who will attend hear the Pro-Police message that the event will promote. We are offended by unscrupulous community “leaders” who misrepresented that this is a PBA event, and condemn those who attempted to divert attention from the fact that thousands of our neighbors will attend in support of our Officers.
The Nassau PBA will attend this Pro-Police event, and hope that you, your families and friends will join us. It is important that those in the Silent Majority have their opportunity to stand with us and demonstrate their support for law and order. It is our obligation to make sure that they have the right to do so.
James M. McDermott
President, Nassau County PB