Last year the former owner of Bumpy’s Polar Freeze ice cream shop in Albany was the source of contention between David Elmendorf and members of the black community.

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According to Times Union, During the protests of 2020, former owner of Bumpy’s Polar Freeze David Elmerdorf, became embroiled in a contentious conflict with the members of the black community over allegedly sending racist text messages. Now, Attorney General Letitia James is taking the matter to another level. She is using this opportunity to put everyone in New York on notice that hate crimes will not be tolerated.

In June 2020, while protesters were outside of David Elmerdorf’s business, Mr. Elmerdorf called the police alleging that members of Black Lives Matter were outside of his establishment threatening him with weapons.

Shortly after Mr. Elmerdorf called the police making the allegations, it was determined that his reports were false and he was charged with making a false police report. It was determined that the protesters did not have any weapons, but Mr. Elmerdorf allegedly displayed a weapon himself.

This is the first time in history that the Attorney General’s Office has taken allegations like this to court. This is the first time that a civil class action has been taken by the AG’s Hate Crimes and Bias Prevention Unit.

Attorney General Letitia James is taking the matter to heart. In her lawsuit, she is seeking to have Mr. Elmerdorf charged with a $500 penalty for every time he attempted to violate citizens' rights by peacefully protesting his establishment.

Attorney General James said, “Those who make racist and violent threats will be held accountable by my office with the full weight of the law. The charges against David Elmendorf should serve as a warning that hate crimes will not be tolerated on my watch and we will not allow individuals to use the color of someone’s skin as a weapon.”

Mr. Elmendorf’s Attorney denies all allegations made against his client. It will be very interesting to see how this whole scenario plays out for Mr. Elmendorf and members of the black community.

You can check out the interview with Letitia James as she was campaigning for New York State Attorney General here.

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