May 2, 2022
From New York State Democrat Chairman Jay Jacobs:
NEWSDAY REPORT HIGHLIGHTS LEE ZELDIN’S TIES TO LONG ISLAND EXTREMIST GROUP
SPLC Labels Long Island Loud Majority An Anti-Government Group
NEW YORK, NY: A new report from Newsday highlights Lee Zeldin’s ties to a Long Island extremist group. The report features recent findings by the Southern Poverty Law Center which labeled the Long Island Loud Majority as an anti-government group.
Lee Zeldin once again doubled down on his support for the Long Island Loud Majority. Zeldin explained the SPLC’s decision as a “political agenda” but in reality, the group attended the January 6 insurrection and regularly hosts dangerous rallies.
In March, gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin rallied with the group, promoting dangerous conspiracy theories and anti-government rhetoric. Zeldin even stated, “big round of applause for our hosts: Long Island Loud Majority, always there fighting the good fight.”
Zeldin continues to align himself with radical groups that support the “Big Lie” and his latest defense shows New Yorkers just how out-of-touch he is.
See key excerpts from the Newsday story below:
Newsday: Southern Poverty Law Center lists 2 LI groups as antigovernment
By Nicholas Spangler
Two Long Island groups have been identified as antigovernment organizations by a nonprofit that tracks racism, xenophobia and far right militias in the United States. […]
Nassau County-based Long Island Mutual Assistance Group and Suffolk County-based Long Island Loud Majority were among 488 “extreme antigovernment groups” active in 2021, according to a report by the Montgomery, Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center. […]
It has made “what we would call threats of political violence around issues of vaccines, masking, COVID restrictions,” she said. There’s “also anti-LGBTQ activity and targeting students and schools around issues of education and inclusive communities.” Those preoccupations reflect what the law center said was a widespread shift by similar groups after the Jan. 6 insurrection in Washington, D.C., to local politics focused on COVID-19 protocols and school curricula. […]
Asked for group membership numbers, Farash recited social media statistics. His social media presence includes a TikTok account where his 285,000 followers can watch his Trump impressions and a Twitter account with 84,000 followers. On that platform, he has likened the Smithtown schools superintendent’s behavior to Stalin’s, mused about the “tyranny” of mask mandates and made repeated false claims that the 2020 election was “stolen.” In recent weeks, he has tweeted about the “gender hoax,” calling several prominent transgender women “still men.” […]
Loud Majority has endorsed school and library board candidates in Smithtown, Nassau County Supervisor Bruce Blakeman and Rep. Lee Zeldin, both Republicans, and posted pictures on its Facebook account of those men smiling alongside Farash and others in Loud Majority sweatshirts. State Republicans have named Zeldin their designee for governor. […]
Zeldin (R-Shirley), in an email, said: “These reports are meant to serve SPLC’s own biased political agenda and should not be taken seriously. Conflating someone who is pro-freedom and pro-liberty with the title of anti-government is … dangerously un-American.” […]
