Yorktown GOP Leader Resigns After Racist Comments Surface

YORKTOWN, NY — Vulgar and racist comments overheard at an election night celebration in Yorktown — and captured on video — have led to the resignation of a Republican town committee district leader.

Tom Pomposello was heard on a video originally posted on the Yorktown Republican Party's Facebook page, and since deleted, referring to Councilman Vishnu Patel's defeat and then saying a vulgar term followed by a racial epithet aimed at someone of Middle Eastern descent.

The video was first published Monday by Brian Marschhauser of Yorktown News.

Pomposello told Yorktown News that he didn't remember saying it, but, after listening to the video, admitted it was him.

Listen to the video that's been posted on YouTube. [VIEWER WARNING: The video contains a racial slur and explicit language.]

Patel was defeated Nov. 2 in his bid for a fourth term as councilman for the town of Yorktown. He is a former IBM scientist and is the father of two West Point graduates.

Kevin Byrnes, chairman of the Yorktown Republican Town Committee, said, when the language on the video was brought to his attention, he launched an investigation into the comments and quickly determined it was Pomposello who said them, according to a post on Facebook.

"Mr. Pomposello was asked for his resignation from the Yorktown Republican Town Committee, and he complied," Byrnes said.

Byrnes said, on behalf of the committee, an apology was offered to Patel and anyone else who heard the slurs.

"Comments like these are unacceptable and do not reflect the values of the Yorktown Republican Town Committee," he said.

Marni Rabin-Marron and Mark Lieberman, co-chairs of the Yorktown Democratic Committee, condemned "this disgusting and blatant display of hatred.

"We are of strong mind that there needs to be a show of zero tolerance for any form of racism or discrimination in our community," they wrote on Facebook. "This can only happen when leaders take action to denounce such racist speech in our backyards."

The Westchester Asian American Democrats issued a statement that said "it was shameful that no one spoke out against Pomposello's deplorable actions at the event, and apologies were issued only after the incident was publicly reported."

The Westchester County Board of Legislators said Wednesday that, while the Republican committee condemned the comments and Pomposello resigned, the video of him "uttering such a slur in a crowded room full of community leaders with such comfort and with no apparent condemnation in the moment, is disturbing."

In their statement, the legislators said, "It is not enough to tolerate silently racism in our midst, nor to act against it only when it becomes a public relations problem, nor merely to apologize for uttering aloud what is in our hearts after the destructive work of one's words is done.

"We must actively confront hatred wherever and whenever we encounter it, in the moment, until it is eradicated from the heart of our nations, and before it grows into something even more destructive than words," the statement read.

Yorktown Supervisor Matt Slater said he was "appalled and disgusted" by the comments from election night.

He said he considers Patel a personal friend and called him the day after the election to thank him for his service to the community.

"Hate has no home here," Slater said on Facebook.