GOSHEN – Noting the death of “George Floyd, other black and brown people and “all forms of hatred across the country,” the Orange County Legislature went on record “supporting movements calling for social reforms to end racial injustices, antisemitism and all forms of hatred in our county.”
Adoption of the resolution on Thursday was not without controversy. Democrats, who are in the minority, wanted to specifically include the language “Black Lives Matter” and to delete “antisemitism.” They maintained the resolution was geared toward equality for black and brown people.
Because the words “Black Lives Matter” were not included in the resolution, the Democrats voted against it. To leave those words out is “disgraceful,” said Democrat Kevindaryan Lujan, who represents the City of Newburgh and its black and brown community.
The failed amendment to remove the word “antisemitism” was for no other reason than to draft a separate resolution for that, Lujan said, noting his Jewish background.
The Democrats also wanted the name of Breanna Taylor included in the resolution, but that, too, failed. She was shot and killed by police in a bungled no-knock warrant search.
Republican County Legislator James O’Donnell, a retired State Police official, noted that George Floyd was killed by a police officer, who O’Donnell said he hopes gets life prison sentence, whereas Breanna Taylor’s death was the result of “poor, poor police work with no criminal intent.”
