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Friday, October 28, 2022
Vol. 71, No. 43
GUIDE TO 2022 TOWN DEMS OFFER BE WARY ON ELECTIONS OWN BUDGET HALLOWEEN PAGES 25-32
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E.W. lawyer charged in Jan. 6 insurrection Ex-school board member O’Kelly center of letter controversy BY R OB E RT PE L A E Z
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
East Williston attorney John O’Kelly was arrested and charged in connection to the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
Nassau attorney and former East Williston school board trustee John O’Kelly was arrested Thursday for his actions during the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, according to the federal prosecutors. O’Kelly, 66, is charged with felony charges of assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement officers and interfering with law enforcement officers during a civil disorder, along with related misdemeanor offenses, officials said. The Long Island Federal Defenders Office, which represented O’Kelly during his arraignment, did not immediately return a request for comment from Blank Slate Media. O’Kelly previously had a controversial letter published in Blank Slate Media’s six newspapers following the election of former President Donald Trump which was viewed by many as
antisemitic. The letter, published in December 2016, lauded Trump’s victory over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton despite the efforts of “anti-Christian, anti-U.S. globalists, led by George Soros.” O’Kelly described Soros as a “Rothschild banker,” referencing the notable European Jewish banking family that many conspiracy theorists and antisemitic groups claim controls the world’s governments. The attorney went on to say that Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Christianity and nationalism clash “with the bankers’ plan for an international, atheistic, totalitarian world order.” He said both leaders strive to achieve “peace and prosperity” compared to “the bankers want[ing] war and debt.” He also claimed Soros was “an agent of the international bankers” and called for him to be “charged,
arrested, tried, convicted and imprisoned for his actions, including his funding of Black Lives Matter and Move-On.Org.” O’Kelly said Soros put President Barack Obama in the White House, calling the former commander-inchief “another anti-Christian, antiAmerican globalist.” Blank Slate Media Editor and Publisher Steven Blank apologized for publishing O’Kelly’s letter, which prompted the company to refrain from running others containing derogatory and offensive language about marginalized groups. Kelly, following the apology, said his criticisms of powerful Jewish figures should not be viewed as insults and that he was opposed to “censorship.” The apology followed decisions by Temple Sinai of Roslyn and the Old Westbury Hebrew Congregation to boycott Blank Slate Media. Continued on Page 46
Steven Grosskopf’s name added to Wall of Honor BY B R A N D ON D U FF Y
ter beginning his post in 1998. He has held numerous volunteer positions at Mineola’s Steven Grosskopf be- the Cub, Troop, District and Council came the most recent recipient of the level for the Boy Scouts. The move comes after a commitJohn S. DaVanzo Wall of Honor Award tee made up of village trustees, ChamOct. 18. Grosskopf is the former Scout- ber of Commerce board members and master of the village’s Troop 45, a po- a designated resident determined sition he retired from this August af- who made a lasting impact on the Vil-
lage of Mineola. The wall, established in 2015 and named after DaVanzo, the longtime Mineola official nicknamed “Mr. Mineola,” honored first responders during the COVID-19 pandemic last year. Other members include Lou Sanders, Ed Smith, Stanley Krause, Robert Hinck and Lou Santosus.
Last year Ann Galante, Mineola’s first female trustee, mayor and former receiver of taxes for the Town of North Hempstead, posthumously received the John S. DaVanzo Wall of Honor Award. Grosskopf, who has logged over 40 years in the Boy Scouts, also spent two years as president of the Theo-
dore Roosevelt Council, beginning in 2015. He is the vice president of Colortone Audio Visual in White Plains and previously told Blank Slate Media he credits the Boy Scouts program with giving him the leadership skills he applies professionally. Continued on Page 46
Visit thewillistontimes.com or theisland360.com for the latest in breaking news.