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Lee Zeldin’s ad shows a man’s final moments. His family wants it removed.

The family of Saheed Vassell, a man killed by the NYPD in 2018, is pleading with Republican gubernatorial candidate Rep. Lee Zeldin to remove footage of Vassell's final moments from Zeldin's first major television advertisement. Vassell's family said the use of the video has caused his relatives “terrible pain and suffering.”

Vassell’s family has hired lawyers in recent weeks as it continues to press Zeldin to remove the ad, which the Republican congressman launched with a seven-figure buy in September and continues to host on his Facebook and Twitter pages. The release underscores Zeldin’s campaign strategy of painting New York as a crime-riddled state under his opponent Gov. Kathy Hochul.

In 30 seconds, Zeldin’s ad features more than a dozen rapid-fire clips of violent acts on the streets — shots fired, aggressive punches, and looting, among others — while screams can be heard in the background. The imagery is so violent that YouTube requires viewers to sign in to confirm their age before watching it.

Vassell appears at the 21-second mark, pointing an object in a passerby’s face as the camera quickly zooms in. At a quick glance, it appears to be a gun.

A narrator tells the audience it is “looking at actual crimes caught on camera in Kathy Hochul’s New York,” before telling people to “vote like your life depends on it — it just might.”

But in the case of Vassell, 34, he wasn’t holding a gun. It was 2018, three years before Hochul became governor (she had served as lieutenant governor then), and he was in the middle of a mental health crisis on the streets of Crown Heights, Brooklyn, wielding what turned out to be a metal piece from a gas tank. Within minutes, NYPD officers shot him at least five times, mistakenly believing he was brandishing a firearm.

New York's top elections watchdog is investigating whether the campaign of Republican Lee Zeldin, the GOP nominee for governor, violated state law by coordinating with a pair of super PACs supporting his candidacy.

Zeldin Campaign Investigated Over Charge of Coordinating With Super PACs
A State Board of Elections investigation was stalled when two Republican board members were absent from a vote to request subpoena power.

By Nicholas Fandos and Dana Rubinstein
Oct. 27, 2022

New York’s top elections watchdog is investigating whether the campaign of Representative Lee Zeldin, the Republican nominee for governor, violated state law by coordinating with a pair of super PACs supporting his candidacy, according to two people familiar with the inquiry.

Michael L. Johnson, the chief enforcement counsel at the State Board of Elections, initiated the preliminary investigation following reporting by The Times Union of Albany and a formal complaint by the New York Democratic Party documenting individuals who may be working for both the super PACs and Mr. Zeldin’s campaign in a prohibited manner.

In recent days, Mr. Johnson asked the Board of Elections to grant him broad subpoena authority to compel cooperation from the campaign and the groups, Save Our State Inc. and Safe Together New York.

But before the board could vote on Mr. Johnson’s request as a part of a long-scheduled regular business meeting on Tuesday, two Republican board members — a co-chairman and a commissioner — both unexpectedly said they could not attend, denying the body a quorum to vote on the subpoena, according to the people familiar with the events, who were not authorized to speak about it publicly.

Under the election board’s current rules, Mr. Johnson cannot immediately issue a subpoena on his own — meaning the matter will be likely to wait until after Election Day.



https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/27/nyre ... r-pac.html