NEWBURGH – It was the last item on a more than four-hour Newburgh City Council session Monday night, but all seven members voted to censure Councilman Omari Shakur for an anti-Semitic remark he made to a Jewish developer last week. Shakur himself voted in favor of the censure.
He attempted to explain his language by saying he was frustrated at the time.
“I said it. I own up to it, but the issue has to be dealt with too, because, yea, I cursed I said something against the Jewish community, and I apologize. But in the meantime, there was a safety issue in my community where a kid could have been hurt. Where is the compassion for that family? Where is the compassion for my community that is going through all of this after going through a pandemic, going through some of the situations that they are going through?” he said.
While some colleagues said they do not agree with Shakur’s language, they said the leadership of the city codes department is lacking and that led to Shakur’s choice of words. But, Councilwoman Karen Mejia said, “this is a community that does not tolerate anti-Semitism.”
