Long Island Trump ally sparks outcry after announcing plan to train 75-member 'militia'

11 July 2024

Back in March on Long Island, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman — a far-right MAGA Republican and Donald Trump supporter — announced his plan to recruit a force of 75 armed "special deputies." Blakeman urged residents with gun permits to apply, saying they would be "provisional emergency special deputy sheriffs" and could be activated when he desired.

The special force, Blakeman said, would focus on the "protection of human life and property during an emergency" — which could be anything from a hurricane or a blackout "a riot."

According to New York Times reporter Corey Kilgannon, the force has "drawn vocal opposition" from some Long Island residents and "plunged Nassau into a national debate about authoritarianism in an election season that some see as a fork in the road for American democracy."

"Critics have accused (Blakeman) of creating, with little notice or explanation, an unsanctioned militia answering only to him," Kilgannon reports in an article published on July 11. "They called the move especially dangerous amid heightened fears of political violence, and as Mr. Trump promulgates plans for mass deportations and quashing dissent."

One of those critics is Great Neck, Long Island-based IT manager Sabine Margolis, who has posted an online petition named "Stop Bruce Blakeman's Personal Nassau County Militia."

Another critic is Delia DeRiggi-Whitton, Democratic minority leader of the Nassau County Legislature.

DeRiggi-Whitton told the Times, "It's the opposite way we want to be going, a private militia with guns. We're trying to work on gun control, rather than promote them."

New York City's Long Island suburbs are divided among four counties, one of which is Nassau County's neighbor, Suffolk County.

Jay Jacobs — who chairs the New York State Democratic Party as well as the Nassau County Democratic Party — told the Times, "This is all to solidify his extreme right-wing base. Instead of solving the county's problems, he's appealing to the right wing by speaking the language they like: militia, guns, law and order. There is no problem he is looking to solve. Does he think we're going to be invaded by Suffolk County?"

Read the full New York Times report at this link (subscription required).

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