Don’t ‘Bully’ Republicans Over Buffalo Shooting, Montclair GOP Says

MONTCLAIR, NJ — A councilman in Montclair who recently blamed "Trumpites" for "destroying" the Republican Party has seen vehement criticism over his comments about the deadly mass shooting in Buffalo, New York from a local Republican club.

During the public comment section of the Montclair Town Council meeting on May 17, Councilor-At-Large Bob Russo spoke about the shooting, which had taken place just three days prior (watch the video below).

The tragedy unfolded at a supermarket in a predominately Black neighborhood, about three miles north of downtown Buffalo. The 18-year-old shooter – who is white – killed 10 Black people during the assault and wounded three others, including a Black victim and two white victims, authorities said.

The gunman comes from Conklin, New York, which is located about 200 miles away from the site of the shooting. He reportedly wrote a manifesto prior to the shooting that voiced support for “replacement theory,” a white supremacist belief that non-whites will eventually replace white people because they have higher birth rates.

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Speaking during last week’s council meeting, Russo alleged that the gunman is representative of many young people from his home area, which “has all kinds of Trump signs all over their lawns.”

“I’m gonna say it … the Republican Party leadership needs to stand up and stop this stuff,” said Russo, a former mayor of Montclair who has a long history of activism with New Jersey teachers unions.

According to Russo, the rise of mass shootings needs to be addressed on a national level, starting with what happened a few years ago under former President Donald Trump, who “condoned this stuff – and is still condoning this stuff.”

The councilman said the Republican Party was “great” under Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower, but that it has been “destroyed by Trumpites and people who spew hate.”

And that’s coming from an “old, white Italian guy” who remembers the hatred his ancestors encountered when they immigrated to the United States, he added.

“So I’m being replaced … fine,” said Russo, adding that he doesn’t follow “the Mussolini/strongman/Putin/Trump philosophy.”

Russo lamented that there are so many “young white guys” coming out of high school with families that may be teaching them to hate, or who get their ideas from the internet.

“I just cannot be nice about this,” Russo said, alleging that “we can’t get anything done” because “the National Rifle Association controls Congress, money controls politics and the billionaire class controls the media.”

“I want us to end this by teaching our students in the high school – Montclair High School included – that this hatred, and talking about replacement theory and being against critical race theory or the real history of this country, this has got to stop,” Russo urged.

Watch the councilman speak on the issue in the video below. His comments begin around the 34-minute mark.

MONTCLAIR GOP CLUB PRESIDENT: 'TIME FOR RUSSO TO RESIGN'

After hearing Russo speak about the shooting, Montclair Republican Club President John Van Wagner reached out to Patch with a strongly worded condemnation of his speech, accusing him of “slandering the tiny minority of his Montclair constituents who oppose his political views.”

“Taking his cue from the despicable current progressive media narrative, he assigned blame to ‘Trumpite Republicans’ for the recent horrific massacre in Buffalo, perpetrated against mostly African American citizens by a deranged gunman,” Van Wagner said.

Van Wagner continued:

“I should not need to state this, but I do so with full heart and soul: I speak for the membership of the Montclair Republican Club when I say that we reject racism and denounce violence in any form, from whatever source, and we grieve for the lost souls in Buffalo, as does each and every decent citizen of this town and of this nation, regardless of politics.”

“This latest insult from Councilor Russo is not a surprise, though the exploitation of carnage to advance his political ideology is a new low, even for him,” Van Wagner said. “But there's another, less transparent and more insidious dimension to his despicable broadside.”

“While Russo and his political brethren cast themselves as champions against racism, they pursue policies cynically designed to harm minorities, while claiming the mantle of savior,” Van Wagner said. “For a year and a half, from 2020 to 2021, Russo and his colleagues in the NJEA and the AFT – including, of course, Mayor/NJEA President Sean Spiller – systematically destroyed the futures of hundreds of Montclair's African American citizens through their ruthless pursuit of lockdowns to appease their union paymasters. Multiple studies have shown that the emotional and academic damage done to young minds as a result of these measures is incalculable, and that minorities have borne the lion’s share of suffering.”

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“Russo, Spiller, and all of the progressive authors of these devastating directives should have the lives of these young people, and their families, on their consciences in perpetuity,” Van Wagner charged.

Van Wagner concluded:

“Russo's frustration is understandable, given the catastrophic unraveling of his dearly held progressive imperatives at the national level, and the impending electoral debacle awaiting him in the fall. But as a public servant he has no right to vent his bitterness on the citizens he was elected to serve. His pathetic, bullying posturing toward those who threaten his bankrupt ideology is unacceptable. It is past time for Bob Russo to resign.”

RUSSO: ‘HATE SHOULD HAVE NO HOME IN MONTCLAIR’

When reached for comment about Van Wagner’s remarks, Russo told Patch he has no plans to resign, and that he may even run again to “stop the right-wing extremists from taking control of our government.”

Russo took issue with the allegation that he has a “union paymaster,” saying that he holds a non-paying volunteer position as one of several “higher education vice presidents” representing adjunct faculty interests on the state AFT board.

Russo also noted that he mostly represents college and university faculty in his role with the AFT, which has no ties to the local teachers union in Montclair or local schools – or with Mayor Spiller, for that matter.

“I am sorry if the Republicans who still support Trump, and refuse to criticize the 90 percent of their party naysayers in Congress, are upset with my truthful statement about white supremacy, guns, violence and racism plaguing our great nation,” Russo said, adding that he won’t apologize for being a “progressive Democrat who loved Republican presidents [such as] Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt and Eisenhower.”

“That was my father’s Republican Party,” opined Russo, who said he has “admiration” for U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, of Wyoming, a Republican who was recently recognized as a winner of the 2022 Profile In Courage Award by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation.

“I want that once moderate and even progressive party leadership back to work with Democrats, who are trying to get good bipartisan policies implemented for our country,” Russo said. “Extremism, divisiveness and hate should have no home in Montclair or America.”

• See related article: When New Jersey Dems, GOP Agree; Going Beyond Blue And Red

Spiller also offered Patch a statement after hearing of Van Wagner’s criticism.

“Responsibility for the horrific violence inflicted on the African American community of Buffalo last week lays squarely at the feet of the hateful ideology of white supremacy, and those who give that ideology safe harbor,” the mayor wrote.

“Sadly, racism and white supremacy have become ingrained in the mainstream of today’s Republican Party,” Spiller continued. “This twisted world view is the antithesis of the values for which Montclair stands.”

The mayor added:

“Rather than attack progressive policies that help hardworking families, or attack teachers who have dedicated our careers to helping students learn and grow, those in the Republican Party who claim to reject hate and racism must stand up and denounce Donald Trump, Tucker Carlson, Elise Stafanik and countless other Republican leaders who spout dangerous and divisive nonsense every day. I stand united with people of good conscience as we combat the scourge of racism in our society and the dangerous threat white supremacy poses to our democracy and our way of life.”

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