by Rusty Brooks
Thomas Lopez-Pierre, a failed City Council candidate who was known for his “ greedy Jewish landlord” remarks and hurling insults at black supporters of his opponents has targeted a media company with threats of violence and economic harm if they do not comply with his social justice demands of racial quotas.
The media company has filed a lawsuit accusing Lopez-Pierre of threatening to send “gang members” to protest until they guaranteed half the speakers it books for various events would people of color or women the NY Post reported.
Lopez-Pierre is threatening Bisnow, a media and events business that that produces news and live events, focused on such as real estate, technology and businesses.
The NY Post reported: Lopez-Pierre started his “extortion scheme” in November 2019, sending letters to Bisnow’s sponsors saying he would have “recently incarcerated Black and Hispanic men … disrupt and hold up banners” at their events, the company charges in an $18 million Manhattan Federal Court lawsuit filed Saturday.
“Diversity has always been a priority for Bisnow, and they have a strong track record of outreach and inclusion in their company and events,” said Judd Burstein, a lawyer for Bisnow.
During his campaign for city council in 2017 against Upper Manhattan Councilman Mark Levine, Lopez-Pieree used vitriolic anti-Semitic attacks on Levine and on property owners he blames for the gentrification of Upper Manhattan, Observer reported.
“Together, we can defeat the greedy Jewish landlords that are engaged in ethnic cleansing”, The NY Post reported Lopez-Pierre saying in one of his campaign videos
He also provoked controversy in 2013 by appearing at a campaign event with former Gov. Eliot Spitzer during the fallen pol’s failed bid for city comptroller, by trading claims of sexual molestation with Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal and by labeling an African-American supporter of Levine’s an “Uncle Tom ni**ger bitch”, in a another political campaign Observer reported.
Observer reported Lopez-Pierre had pleading guilty a few years ago to violating an order of protection taken out by his ex-wife and the NY Post reported:
In 2013, Lopez-Pierre allegedly groped Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal at a news conference.
“Stop grabbing my ass! Get off me!” Rosenthal, then 55, exclaimed at the event.
Lopez-Pierre denied Rosenthal’s allegations.
“I’m at a political event — I’d grab some old woman’s ass?” he said. “Why would I grab some old lady’s ass. That’s insane.”
NY Post reported that Lopez-Pierre threatened that unless sponsors Bisnow withdrew, “Our protestors will visit the corporate offices, homes and houses of worship of the speakers and sponsors … and yell that ‘XYZ’ person and/or firm is RACIST and SEXIST, until NYPD Officers arrive and drag them out kicking and screaming (which will be recorded on cellphones for social media),” Lopez-Pierre vowed, according to court papers.
TJV also reported last year: Lopez-Pierre had to pay back $54,107 of the $99,180 in matching funds the Campaign Finance Board gave him for his failed bid against City Councilman Mark Levine of Manhattan. Lopez-Pierre has also been assessed $6,182 in fines for assorted forms of malfeasance. The panel charged him with a long list of wrongs including: neglecting to report over $12,000 in contributions; failing to cite over $10,000 in transactions; exceeding the $100 limit on individual cash expenditures; using campaign funds for personal use; and making campaign expenditures after the election was already over.
