Statement of Ravi Bhalla on Attack Flyer
“Last night a flyer with the word "terrorist" above a picture of me appeared on car windshields in Hoboken.
Of course, this is troubling, but I want to be clear: We won't let hate win in Hoboken. I want people to know that Hoboken is a welcoming community where my wife and I are proud to raise our two young children. No matter your religion, race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation, you are welcome here in our City. And as Mayor, I will work hard to make sure we keep it that way.
I want to use this incident as an opportunity to affirm to each other and our children the value of living in a diverse community where we are judged by the content of our character-- not by the color of our skin or how we worship. At this time in our nation’s history when we have a President who seeks to divide us, it is critical that we come together as a community and stand up for American values.”
The decision of Ravi, this website and other of his supporters to continue to circulate this image is disingenuous. Anyone can see that it is altered and fake. Spreading it around as such without stating so is defamatory and shows what you really care about. It's not about ending hate, it's about manipulating emotions to try and win an election. If you actually care about this, remove the image and stop using it to campaign.
ReplyDeletePlease, it's not defamatory. The flyer really does exist and really was spread around. It's truthful to post the image and state the truth of what happened.
DeleteThere's no way to fully understand what the flyer is, and the horribleness of it, without seeing the photo for yourself. So nobody should have to self-censor.
I don't believe this website, or Ravi's supporters generally, are asserting that this was certainly put out by DeFusco, or even was likely put out by his campaign or supporters. This website did post DeFusco's condemnation, and gave that statement a headline so people could see that he denied it even without clicking.
For what it's worth- and this is pure, uninformed speculation, so I do not mean it as libel- when I try to do the electoral math of who this benefits, and who might be willing to do something like this, I suspect it may have been posted by someone who thought he was helping the Romano campaign. Chaos is a ladder, and all. But I have no evidence of this- I don't think this should be held against Romano or anyone without more evidence clarifying things.
2 things. 1, despite its murky origins, it can't be wished away. The attempt to use racism in the same week when emotions are fraught over the tragic terrorist incident just across the river from here is out there now and needs an answer. 2, you need to look up the meaning of defamation.
DeleteKen Osmond, you are a dope. Tomorrow this will be in the print edition of The Daily News and has already hit local media, might hit natonal media. No, this story is not going away. Stop practicing law without a license.
Deletemade the news: http://abc7ny.com/politics/campaigns-denounce-flyers-involving-sikh-candidate-for-mayor-of-hoboken/2603537/
ReplyDeletecould it be possible it came from his own campaign? like someone else said to manipulate emotions? i hope they find the source
ReplyDeleteIt's the spoils of winning the race to the bottom for the Defusco and Giattino surrogates. Anything filthy happens, yer gonna get blamed for it. Congratulations.
DeleteNo, it is not.
DeleteThe Hoboken Police have posted a fuzzy B/W surveillance cam picture of the person(s) distributing the flyers. It is also on Hudson County View and the Hoboken Reporter webpages. A commenter on the HR site is saying that the person doing the distribution has already turned himself into the police.
ReplyDeleteThe commenter over there is Hobokensnoopy. Interesting name choice. It ain’t me.
ReplyDeleteIt does suspiciously like someone was trying to redirect responsibility and cast aspersions on the people who are no longer backing DeFusco.
DeletePossibly. The comment seems to indicate that someone in reform is responsible for the mailers. I have no idea. The obvious answer is Stick, as he benefits from throwing Ravi & Defusco under the bus & he's old Hoboken where midnight fliers used to be a campaign staple. But Jen also benefits. And finally, maybe Mike did do it and figured if it was done this way, no one would suspect him.
DeleteI don't know. But I do know that I've never posted on Hudson County View or Hoboken Reporter.
I honestly don't think any of the people heading up any of the tickets had any prior knowledge or would have signed off on this sort of thing. There are however many nuts hanging on the fringes on all the campaigns that could have done it.
Delete