New York lawyer faces backlash after racist comments regarding Hispanic-Americans

 

Aaron Schlossberg, a New York lawyer, had a huge outburst in a deli when he overheard customers and employees speaking in Spanish in “[his]country.”

On May 15, a video posted on social media showed Schlossberg at a Fresh Kitchen in Manhattan, angrily telling employees and customers who were speaking Spanish to speak English because “This is America!”

“If they have the b**** to come here and live off my money, I pay for their welfare,” he says, asserting incorrectly that undocumented immigrants are eligible for federal public benefits. “I pay for their ability to be here. The least they can do … is speak English.”

He continued to express his displeasure to an employee and threatened to call U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.

“My guess is they’re not documented. So my next call is to ICE to have each one of them kicked out of my country,” he says.

After the outburst, Aaron Schlossberg said he regretted the hurt he had caused, apologized for the way he expressed himself and said that he is not a racist. He also stated that the video did not depict the real him.

“To the people I insulted, I apologize,” Schlossberg wrote in the statement posted to Twitter and LinkedIn. “Seeing myself online opened my eyes — the manner in which I expressed myself is unacceptable and is not the person I am. I see my words and actions hurt people, and for that I am deeply sorry.”

U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat told CNN that he and Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. filed a formal complaint against Schlossberg with the New York State Unified Court System, seeking to have his law license suspended until he “amends his actions.”

Since last week’s video went viral, two men have come forward with other stories about Schlossberg becoming belligerent in public.

Willie Morris from Massachusetts said Schlossberg bumped into him on the sidewalk and called him an “ugly f-ing foreigner”

Morris said on Tuesday that Schlossberg, through his apology, appears to be trying “to save face.”

“I believe he’s upset he was caught multiple times being racist and that it’s probably been very damaging for him,” Morris told CNN.

Morris said Schlossberg will “be more careful about how he acts in public for a while” and that the lawyer should demonstrate his “change of heart” through “actions instead of blanket apologies.”

In another instance, Isaac Saul described Schlossberg angrily yelling at an ultra-Orthodox Jewish man who was participating in a protest, accusing him of being a fake Jew.

Both encounters were caught on video.

In video of the confrontation, Schlossberg can be seen yelling profanities and saying, “You are not a Jew” at the counter protesting Haredi Jews.

He also flips his middle finger at the counter protesters.

Schlossberg wrote that “people should be able to express themselves freely” but “should do so calmly and respectfully.”

“One of the reasons I moved to New York is precisely because of the remarkable diversity offered in this wonderful city. I love this country and this city, in part because of immigrants and the diversity of cultures immigrants bring to this country,” said Schlossberg.

Only time will tell if the broader society will accept his apology and move on.