Rochester dentist accused of hosting racist Juneteenth party sues local pol and lawyer for defamatio

[Kamaji]

Rochester dentist accused of hosting racist Juneteenth party sues local pol and lawyer for defamation

By David Propper   
August 10, 2023

A Rochester dentist has filed a defamation lawsuit against a local legislator and an attorney who accused him and his wife of hosting a racist Juneteenth party — which was attended by a black firefighter allegedly at the behest of his superior.

Nicholas Nicosia claims in the suit filed Tuesday that Nathan McMurray, an attorney who represents firefighter Jerrod Jones, and Monroe County Legislator Rachel Barnhart destroyed his dentistry practice and ruined his family’s life over what his legal team called a “hate crime hoax.”

Nicosia said the allegations even led to someone suggesting he should kill himself in an anonymous letter to his office, the lawsuit states.

The small party thrown last July by Nicosia and his wife was thrust into the limelight when Jones accused his captain of taking him and a few other on-duty firefighters to the gathering that featured racist elements, according to a lawsuit brought by the 14-year department vet against the fire department.

Jones said he saw a display of Juneteenth flags that were over buckets of fried chicken in a bid to mock the holiday.

A woman also allegedly pretended to be Barnhart and performed a sexually suggestive dance while photos of Democratic politicians were attached to stakes in the yard.

But Nicosia, in legal papers, denied the accusations, saying two buckets of Kentucky Fried Chicken were served along with other food and were never under Juneteenth flags.

There was no attempt to ridicule black Americans, make fun of the holiday or sexualize Barnhart, and the signs with the pols’ photos could also not be mistaken for stakes, Nicosia’s lawsuit states.

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Source:  https://nypost.com/2023/08/10/nicholas-nicosia-sues-rachel-barnhart-ny-lawyer-over-racist-party-claim/

[Kamaji]

Hope they get damages in the millions.

[DefiantMassRINO]

If the intial allegations are true, where are the cell phone pictures and videos?

If the party was that outrageous, someone would have recorded it on their phones.

[Kamaji]

If the intial allegations are true, where are the cell phone pictures and videos?

If the party was that outrageous, someone would have recorded it on their phones.

Yup.

[jmyrlefuller]

Nicholas Nicosia claims in the suit filed Tuesday that Nathan McMurray, an attorney who represents firefighter Jerrod Jones, and Monroe County Legislator Rachel Barnhart destroyed his dentistry practice and ruined his family’s life over what his legal team called a “hate crime hoax.”

Just a little bit of context on who those two are.

McMurray and Barnhart are both Democrat politicians. McMurray is from a little further west, from Grand Island, an island west of Buffalo. He's run for Congress and lost. Rachel Barnhart is a former TV news reporter. After multiple failed attempts, she finally got elected to a county legislature position. They both have X (f/k/a Twitter) accounts; you can see their politics are typically partisan.

This is also Rochester, New York, and not the first time the Democrats have run a guy out of town on political grounds. Jeremy Kappell, the meteorologist on Barnhart's former station and a pro-Trump Republican, was fired after the mayor of Rochester twisted a slip of the tongue into a racial slur and got Kappell fired.