Dems Let Early Effort Stand On Rockland Sheriff's Posts

ROCKLAND COUNTY, NY — More than a month after news broke that Rockland County Sheriff Louis Falco posted racist tropes on Facebook, the leaders of the county's Democratic Party let their early response to it stand.

Though more than 200 people signed the group Rockland United's open letter to the Rockland County Democratic Executive Committee asking them to call for his resignation, the party's leaders voted down calls for censure at a meeting Monday night, according to the Rockland Citizens Action Network.

Members of the county Democratic committee met privately with Falco July 2 after news broke that in one of several recent controversial posts, Falco shared a 2013 item from the Daily Archives, a neo-Nazi, white supremacist website, called "Racist Black Thugs Shoot White Baby in the Face for the Fun of It."

The committee wrote on Facebook: "After extensive discussion, Sheriff Falco accepted our request to immediately make a public apology for the post."

Falco deleted the post and said among other things that he had meant for the White Resister post to be private and that he had not seen the bigoted comments reported to have been written in response.

He told The Journal News in a statement, "While I did not see the comments because they were immediately deleted when the post was removed in its entirety, I want to make it clear that I strongly condemn those hateful and racist comments which have no place in our, or any community."

The nationwide issue of law enforcement officers sharing bigoted views on private social media networks has been in the news lately. SEE: 4 San Jose Police Officers Put On Leave After Racist Posts.

In Rockland County, where Falco has served as county sheriff since 2012, reaction to the posts and apology have been low-key.

Rockland County Executive Ed Day weighed in on the controversy July 6.

A rally July 26 drew a couple hundred people to New City, NBC 4 reported. Meanwhile, Rockland United is seeking signatures on a petition called "#FalcoMustGo."

The Rockland County Democratic Committee has not responded yet to requests for comment from Patch.