EDEN MAN ARRAIGNED FOR MENACING VICTIM AND VIOLATING ORDER OF PROTECTION

Remember that video Stefan Mychajliw and Republicans used to try and smear Erie County Clerk candidate Melissa Hartman?

Well it just came back to bite them in the ass as 48-year-old Luigi Palmieri of Eden was arraigned this morning before Hamburg Town Court Justice Gerald P. Gorman on one count of Menacing in the Second Degree and one count of Criminal Contempt in the Second Degree (Class “A” misdemeanors).

It is alleged that on Saturday, August 20, 2022, at approximately 11:28 p.m., the defendant yelled at a male victim outside on Hillbrook Drive while knowingly in violation of an order of protection issued on behalf of his family. It is further alleged that the victim’s wife and a male neighbor were walking along Hillbrook Drive when they encountered the defendant. The defendant was allegedly in possession of a large metal flashlight that he was shining toward the victims, which resulted in a verbal altercation. During the argument, the defendant allegedly approached while armed with the metal flashlight with the intent to place the victims in reasonable fear. The defendant was subsequently punched by the male neighbor.
An investigation determined that the male neighbor acted in self-defense. The defendant was later given an appearance ticket to be arraigned on the charge. The matter was transferred to Hamburg Town Court after both Eden Town Court Justices recused themselves from the case.
If convicted of the charges, Palmieri faces a maximum sentence of one year in jail. 
Palmieri has another pending criminal case that was transferred to Hamburg Town Court. He is charged with one count of Criminal Contempt in the First Degree (Class “E” felony). He is accused of repeatedly violating an order of protection, which placed the victim and her family in reasonable fear. The matter was transferred to Hamburg Town Court after both Eden Town Court Justices recused themselves from the case.
It is alleged that on October 27, 2021, at approximately 8:40 a.m., the victim saw the defendant, knowingly in violation of an existing order of protection, driving in the area of her place of employment. The victim allegedly saw the defendant driving past the building again as she entered Eden Town Hall.
It is alleged that on April 3, 2022, at approximately 5:25 p.m., the defendant drove slowly in his vehicle past the victim’s son as he was walking on Route 62 near Legion Drive in the Town of Eden. The defendant allegedly acted with no legitimate purpose while knowingly in violation of an existing order of protection.
It is alleged that on May 14, 2022, at approximately 6:35 p.m., the defendant drove slowly past the victim’s home in the Town of Eden as her children were playing outside. The defendant allegedly stopped his vehicle in front of the victim’s residence for no legitimate purpose while knowingly in violation of an existing order of protection.
It is also alleged that on July 13, 2022, at approximately 6:46 p.m., the defendant entered the victim’s place of employment, Eden Town Hall, during a board meeting while knowingly in violation of an existing order of protection. The defendant was asked to leave the building by an Eden Police officer. It is further alleged that at approximately at 9:25 p.m., the victim saw the defendant again inside of his vehicle in the parking lot as she exited the building.
The defendant was also previously charged in Eden Town Court with one count of Reckless Endangerment in the Second Degree (Class “A” misdemeanor), one count of Harassment in the Second Degree and one count of Unlawfully Dealing with Fireworks and Dangerous Fireworks (violations). He was arraigned on July 4, 2021. The case was adjourned in contemplation of dismissal on January 4, 2022. An order of protection was issued on behalf of the victim and her family.
The defendant is accused of intentionally detonating a firework near the victim and her husband, which created a substantial risk of serious physical injury. The alleged incident occurred on Hillbrook Drive in the Town of Eden on Friday, July 2, 2021.
Due to the recent charges and alleged violation of the order of protection, the case has been restored to the active calendar in Hamburg Town Court.
Palmieri is scheduled to return to Hamburg Town Court on Tuesday, December 6, 2022 at 9:00 a.m. for a pre-trial conference on all cases. He remains released on his own recognizance.
A no-contact order of protection remains in place on behalf of the victim and her family.
DA Flynn commends the Eden Police Department and the Erie County Sheriff’s Office for their work in these investigations.
Both cases are being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney William Fitzgerald of the Felony Trials Bureau and Assistant District Attorney Stephen C. Papia of the Justice Courts Bureau.

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Last month, some House members publicly acknowledged that Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza. It’s a judgment that Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch unequivocally proclaimed a year ago. Israeli human-rights organizations have reached the same conclusion. But such clarity is sparse in Congress.

And no wonder. Genocide denial is needed for continuing to appropriate billions of dollars in weapons to Israel, as most legislators have kept doing. Congress members would find it very difficult to admit that Israeli forces are committing genocide while voting to send them more weaponry.

Three weeks ago, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) introduced a resolution titled “Recognizing the genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza.” Twenty-one House colleagues, all of them Democrats, signed on as co-sponsors. They account for 10 percent of the Democrats in Congress.

In sharp contrast, a national Quinnipiac Poll found that 77 percent of Democrats “think Israel is committing genocide.” That means there is a 67 percent gap between what the elected Democrats are willing to say and what the people who elected them believe. The huge gap has big implications for the party’s primaries in the midterm elections next year, and then in the race for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination.

One of the likely candidates in that race, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), is speaking out in ways that fit with the overwhelming views of Democratic voters.

“I agree with the UN commission's heartbreaking finding that there is a genocide in Gaza,” he tweeted as autumn began. “What matters is what we do about it – stop military sales that are being used to kill civilians and recognize a Palestinian state.”

Consistent with that position, the California congressman was one of the score of Democrats who signed on as co-sponsors of Tlaib’s resolution the day it was introduced.

In the past, signers of such a resolution would have reason to fear the wrath — and the electoral muscle — of AIPAC, the Israel-can-do-no-wrong lobby. But its intimidation power is waning. AIPAC’s support for Israel does not represent the views of the public, a reality that has begun to dawn on more Democratic officeholders.

“With American support for the Israeli government’s management of the conflict in Gaza undergoing a seismic reversal, and Democratic voters’ support for the Jewish state dropping off steeply, AIPAC is becoming an increasingly toxic brand for some Democrats on Capitol Hill,” the New York Times reported this fall. Notably, “some Democrats who once counted AIPAC among their top donors have in recent weeks refused to take the group’s donations.”

Khanna has become more and more willing to tangle with AIPAC, which is now paying for attack ads against him.

On Thanksgiving, he tweeted about Gaza and accused AIPAC of “asking people to disbelieve what they saw with their own eyes.” Khanna elaborated in a campaign email days ago, writing: “Any politician who caves to special interests on Gaza will never stand up to special interests on corruption, healthcare, housing, or the economy. If we can’t speak with moral clarity when thousands of children are dying, we won’t stand for working Americans when corporate power comes knocking.”

AIPAC isn’t the only well-heeled organization for Israel now struggling with diminished clout. Democratic Majority for Israel, an offshoot of AIPAC that calls itself “an American advocacy group that supports pro-Israel policies within the United States Democratic Party,” is now clearly misnamed. Every bit of recent polling shows that in the interests of accuracy, the organization should change its name to “Democratic Minority for Israel.”

Yet the party’s leadership remains stuck in a bygone era. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), the chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, typifies how disconnected so many party leaders are from the actual views of Democratic voters. Speaking in Brooklyn three months ago, she flatly claimed that “nine out of 10 Democrats are pro-Israel.” She did not attempt to explain how that could be true when more than seven out of 10 Democrats say Israel is guilty of genocide.

The political issue of complicity with genocide will not go away.

Last week, Amnesty International released a detailed statement documenting that “Israeli authorities are still committing genocide against Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip, by continuing to deliberately inflict conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction.” But in Congress, almost every Republican and a large majority of Democrats remain stuck in public denial about Israel’s genocidal policies.

Such denial will be put to the electoral test in Democratic primaries next year, when most incumbents will face an electorate far more morally attuned to Gaza than they are. What easily passes for reasoned judgment and political smarts in Congress will seem more like cluelessness to many Democratic activists and voters who can provide reality checks with their ballots.

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