Statement from Nassau County Legislature Deputy Minority Leader Arnold W. Drucker (D – Plainview) -
Yesterday, I was outraged and appalled to learn of the arrest of a Syosset father and his 15-year-old son connected to the discovery of chemicals and explosive materials in their home. The materials were so dangerous that police launched a major emergency response and evacuated the neighborhood. I am deeply grateful to the Nassau County Police Department, our HazMat professionals, and all our first responders for preventing a catastrophe through their swift and decisive response.
The scenario I just described is disturbing enough on its own, but the fact that the 15-year-old is additionally accused of drawing a swastika on Syosset High School escalates this to a terrifying level.
I learned of this incident during a life-changing trip through Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Austria. It is a solemn pilgrimage to the gas chambers and crematoria of Nazi Germany’s concentration camps, where 6 million Jews and millions more Romani, Slavic and LGBTQ+ people were slaughtered in the name of evil.
As I bear witness firsthand to the palpable results of unchecked, barbaric hatred, contemplating what these individuals could have done with these explosives and chemicals shook me to my core. As a Jewish man who has dedicated my life’s work and public service career to combating antisemitism and hatred in all its forms, the incident in Syosset is personally painful in innumerable ways. It has redoubled my commitment to exposing the growing scourge of antisemitism that is growing throughout our nation and the world.
Together, we have a critical duty to confront antisemitism and bigotry, and the mission has never been more urgent. We must rebuke it wherever it surfaces and work together with a shared commitment to banishing the scourge of antisemitism from our society.