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Manhattan Beep's Aide Resigns Over Facebook Comments On Gates Arrest

2009_07_llod.jpg
Screengrab via City Hall News

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer's deputy press aide resigned, due to a series of Facebook posts and comments she made related to the arrest of Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. Lee Landor, who had been working in Stringer's office since May, complained, "You know what, I am really getting SICK of hearing about how white people are evil racists. Black people, Hispanic people, Indian people, Asian people, whoever, are being over-the-top racists in recent weeks, as highlighted in the media since the Sotomayor-New Haven issue," and also called President Obama "O-Dumb-a" while saying that Gates was the racist.

City Hall News has screengrabs of Landor's posts—which were made with links to Daily News articles about the controversy—as well as her comments, pointing out they were made "at 11:43 a.m. on Friday, July 24, while Landor was apparently working in the borough president’s office" (she also posted to Stringer's official government blog that day) and then at 12:32 p.m. When one commenter questioned, "Is racial profiling still not an issue in this country?" Landor responded, "And racial profiling does exist, but for good reason. Take a look at this country's jails: who makes up the majority of inmates? Exactly."

The Citizens Union's Dick Dadey told City Hall News, "The use of social networking sites during the work day by government employees is not something that should be permitted, unless it is specifically a part of a communication effort of the elected official or department for which they work. Commenting on a political matter not germane to the performance of their job during work hours is questionable.” And Stringer said, "Ms. Landor's comments were totally inappropriate and in direct contradiction to the views of the Borough President and his office. The Borough President has accepted Ms. Landor's resignation, effective immediately."

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Comments [rss]

  • keepdiscoevil

    Here's an observation: does she even know Mr. Adam Esrig? I would really like to know how they became Facebook friends, because I bet she regrets accepting that friend request.

  • ray

    Lee is 100$ correct. What is going on with this reverse discrimination?

  • ray

    She is 100% correct.Enough with the reverse discrimination. If this was reversed you would have sharpton with bus loads of screaming chanting people. Time to get over this crap and start realizing we are all prejudice.

  • GREGORYABUTLER

    Ms Landor - I hear the KKK is looking for a PR rep - here's the address:



    Aryan Community Relations Department,

    Invisible Empire, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan,

    P.O. Box 442

    Metarie, LA 35521

    Attn: Mr D. Duke



    I think you'd be PERFECT for the job!

  • snickerdoodle

    Typical knee-jerk overreaction from a liberal idiot. Yes, Ms. Landor's comments are equal to being a bedsheet-wearing redneck racist from Mississippi who lynches black people after dark. I see logic and critical thinking are no longer being taught in public schools.



    Get a clue, GregoryAButler. And an education.

  • GREGORYABUTLER

    Well, she is a racist negrophobe - so she'd fit in quite well with the KKK, actually.



    By the tone of your comments - perhaps you should send them a resume as well.

  • jpeditor
  • Snoopy

    Just because there are six times more blacks and two and half times more Hispanics in prison than whites doesn't mean they are in there for violent crimes. Where are those stats? Plus how many of those Hispanics are fair skinned versus dark skinned?

  • snickerdoodle

    Lee Landor is 10000% correct and she is entitled to her opinion without having to fear losing her job because of it.



    It's unfortunate and downright scary and pathetic that people nowadays must resign from jobs because their opinions are not "mainstream" "progressively liberal" or "politically correct".



    This country is no longer the land of the free. Freedom of speech is no longer valued in the USA. There is no true diversity here if suppression of ideas, thoughts, and dissenting opinion is actively encouraged and done without protest.



    RIP America.

  • savedbyzero

    Her speech was free. She didn't get arrested.

    Only fired. And rightly so.



    She reads like some of the clueless interns you encounter....(ie Monica Lewinsky).



    I worry about getting called to task for posting comments to this blog and for uploading photos during biz hours. My company totally has the discretion to can me for these things from company equipment while at my place of business.



    Get a clue, mr. snickerdoodle.

  • Riiiiiigggggghhhhhttttt...



    As a "Press Aide" she absolutely has no public presence in regards to her job, Right?

    As a "Press Aide" for a BP, she should publicly work against the stated opinions of her boss, Right?



    O Please. She's free to be as big a Jackass as she possibly can, but with "freedom" comes consequences.



    Besides, as someone else pointed out, she's qualified to be a "Young Republican", assuming she isn't one already.

  • Snoopy

    Shouldn't someone fire Obama for his stupid remark? Unless this guy has a teleprompter in front of his face he should keep his mouth shut. Normally a president of the US isn't involved with local crime stop stories. He should have easily said, "Let the facts be developed prior to making a decision regarding this situation." But nope he took the Al Sharpton road to justice. What would his grandparents think about his opinion? No, not the overseas version, the ones that lived here in the states.

  • GREGORYABUTLER

    The only thing wrong with Obama's comment was that he called that "racial profiling instructor" stupid.



    He should have called that cop a racist son of a bitch and demanded that the City of Cambridge fire him on the spot!

  • ak

    Ha, wait, "fire Obama"? Really?

  • Manitoba

    Seriously? A little bit of a stretch if you ask me.

  • Politburo

    Keep trying...

  • ak

    On the bright side, she's now being heavily considered for a press position with The Young Republicans.



    http://gawker.com/5313020/audra-shay-facebook-hate-monger-elected-leader-of-young-republicans

  • FaceFace

    "the topic of white civil rights"



    uhhhh

  • Indeed.

  • inoyourider

    And best of all, she's ABSOLUTELY right.

    Should have been able to resist her addiction to facebook until after work hours though.

  • Bernie Madoff-Goetz

    I can relate to her outrage but think she stepped over the line with a few of her remarks and only really ended up legitimizing the "evil racist white people" stereotype she so loathes. Sadly there is plenty of intelligent, thoughtful discourse on the topic of white civil rights that does not cross the line but most of it can only get published in sources with a conservative bent (City Journal, etc.)

  • sj

    Yes, the land of the free. She is free to make whatever comments she likes in a public forum and Stringer is free to decide that she's not the kind of person who should work for him. Freedom goes both ways.

  • nynew

    my thoughts exactly.

  • Steven

    America the land of the free?

  • I'm amazed that a deputy press aide would be that publicly naive.



    Not sure what qualifications she was hired on but public relations experience is not one of them...



    As a press aide you'd think she'd have something of a clue as to the public nature of the internet...

  • JacqueMehoff

    thanks for those FB grabs, it doesn't take much to bring them out of their woodwork, their rocks or their white sheets.

    and, this is Facebook.

  • Polite New Yorker

    Let's admit that the aide had to resign not because she was using Facebook while at work, but because the opinions she expressed are politically incorrect. It is true that a press aide should be more careful about voicing his or her opinion in these contentious times. There is a very obvious racial double standard as applied to the opinions of Whites and Blacks when it comes to the issue of race, and any White person who refuses to ascend to the left-leaning assertions of widespread "institutional racism" and similar theories are branded as racists or bigots. Sadly, this "bigot" has a better handle on the facts of the Prof. Gates case and the issue of "racial profiling" than President Obama.

  • Soggy

    Just because you agree with her does not mean she has a "better handle on the facts" than Gates or Obama. It means that you share the same opinion.

    Let me throw something out there: I guess you probably agree with her that it is ok to racially profile because "blacks commit more crime." Following that logic, why is it not ok for Professor Gates (who committed no crime) to assume that he is being racially profiled because he's black?

  • Polite New Yorker

    I can tell Dr. Gates was not "racially profiled" because I know some basic facts of the case, such as: the police responded to the report of a break in at the house, they did not stop the angry Professor randomly on the street or enter the house without cause. Also, Sgt. Crowley's partner at the scene (who happens to be black) supports Crowley's version of events.

  • Soggy

    Yes, you know that they responded to a B&E. That's all you know because you weren't there to see the actual exchange. None of us was. Instead of having a kneejerk reaction, think about how you would feel in the situation. You are a black man who was just locked out of his home and you are on the phone with the management company trying to get things fixed. You open the door and see a police officer standing there, telling you to come outside because he has a report of someone breaking into your house. Given the history of America (and this goes on NOW, not only in the past), I don't think someone has to be crazy to feel like they are being racially profiled. We can agree to disagree, but if you support his arrest I wonder what your thoughts are on the second amendment, government meddling in everyday affairs, etc.

  • For the record, these details of the confrontation were released after Obama was asked for his opinion at the news conference.

  • suga7

    Excellent point.

  • Snoopy

    Ain't that the truth?

  • valeriob

    Maybe she was looking for a way out. Wonder what Stringer's employee turnover is like.

  • emilydickinson

    A press aide, or anyone who works in PR, should know better than to run their mouth online, especially on FB. Like it or not, once something gets out into the wild on the web, it can and will, come back to bite you in the ass.

  • Matt Joyce

    End White Bigotry, Down with Affirmative Action!

  • bxlex

    so much for freedom of speech...

  • hotstepper

    Lee Landor: FAIL.

  • Rfive
  • Mr Mel

    Does the White prisoner stat include Hispanics or are they lumped with the Blacks?

  • Rfive

    I dunno. 100,00 Hispanic, Asians and others seems REALLY low...

  • JacqueMehoff

    what a maroom.

    not to worry, a GOP'er will give her a job.

  • yytttt

    Nice one! Now I better befriend Marty and all his press aid's on facebook!

  • John_Matrix

    this is what happens when a brave white woman speaks truth to power against the racist minorities that have kept white people down for centuries.



    seriously though, having a black president is driving all the racists crazy and then out of the woodwork.

  • suga7

    What really upsets me about her comments is that she said

    "And racial profiling does exist, but for good reason. Take a look at this country's jails: who makes up the majority of inmates? Exactly."



    I am blown away by that.

  • ForrestWhitaker

    Yeah, I think that's icing on the cake to transform this from a freedom of speech issue, to being a blatant racist dick.

  • Wza

    Seriously.

  • whitecastlerock

    What exactly does Scott Stringer do anyway? Why does he need a "deputy press aide" in the first place? We are in a recession, trim the fat-get rid of useless positions like the Borough Presidents. What the hell are the "Views of the Borough President's Office"? Maybe she was on the internet because they don't have anything to do!

  • Mr Mel

    He dispenses patronage for the Manhattan Democrats. It is, however, an elective office.

  • Snoopy

    Maybe she posted them on her lunch break.

  • chuzzlewit

    wow - those comments don't sound familiar at all. do all you people hang out at the same sports bar or something?



    tags: brain not working comments politician facebook is for losers awww what a cute profile picture hateful regurgitating what my jock boyfriend said.

  • ForrestWhitaker

    She shoulda been fired for just saying "O-dumb-a". What a "lame-o".

  • nicemarmot

    So what was she forced to resign over? Was it the political statement or the fact that she was goofing off on facebook at work? What happened to free speech? Of course, you work for a scummy politician and I guess that's what you get.

  • City Hall News says it's unclear whether Stringer's office "had requested Landor's resignation," but it's probably difficult when the press aide, representing an elected official's views, feels so differently than the official.

  • matty

    So people can't have opinions anymore?



    My sentiments more or less echoed this person's on the issue. Does that mean I have to forfeit my job?



    This is rediculous.

  • GREGORYABUTLER

    No, public servants cannot have racist opinions!



    And that's a GOOD thing!



    Hopefully, soon the private sector will follow suit, and all of the White supremacist bigots like Ms Landor will be unemployed.

  • Politburo

    If you work "at will", as many of us do, then yes, your employer can effectively control your opinions (aside from religion).

  • If you're in private sector, that's one thing. But working for an elected official and making these comments... and during office hours...

  • eyekantspel

    actually, no protection exists for private sector comments.

  • ianmac47

    When you were for a public official, "office hours" are 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Don't fault this woman for using internet for "personal use" because it shows a lack of understanding of the commitment staff members of elected officials have.



    However, you should absolutely fault her for being so naive to think that holding a staff position for an elected official, especially one as visible as deputy press aid, entitles her to some level of privacy with her ignorant opinions. Landor acted stupidly. Her opinion, while private, still reflects onto the official she works for. She should have known better.

  • matty

    "Ms. Landor's comments were totally inappropriate and in direct contradiction to the views of the Borough President and his office"



    So if she said that the cop was obviously a racist and that he should be fired then it would be OK?





    Note to self: Make sure my facebook is set to private.

  • just_the_facts_america

    I agree. If Landor's opinions were reversed, maybe the article would have looked like this:



    "Ms. Landor's comments were totally appropriate and in direct correlation to the views of the Borough President and his office. The Borough President has accepted Ms. Landor's promotion, effective immediately."

  • NannyState

    If she was an appointee, her job truly rests on her relationship with the Borough President and his views. Otherwise, she'd clearly have legal recourse.

  • chuzzlewit

    "And racial profiling does exist, but for good reason. Take a look at this country's jails: who makes up the majority of inmates? Exactly."



    maybe she got fired for being stupid?- since white males make up the majority of the prison population in America.

  • chuzzlewit

    correction: "jail population"

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