New York Assembly member Pat Burke. Burke fired three staffers during an argument over his response to the Buffalo shooting. Screengrab via YouTube
Three staff members for New York Assembly member Pat Burke say they were fired after they demanded their boss do more to condemn white supremacy and help the ailing East Buffalo community after the mass shooting last month at a Tops supermarket.
Burke, who currently represents South Buffalo, Kaisertown, Orchard Park, and West Seneca, fired three of his four-person staff on May 17 after they disagreed with his approach on how to respond to the shooting.“This is a guy who is hailed as the hero of a progressive movement in western New York—he was the only one of two people locally to endorse [Bernie] Sanders in 2016,” Matt Dearing, who was Burke’s former community relations liaison, told VICE News. “The truth is, you really need to do more to get to know your elected officials because so many of them hide and don't ever want to take a strong stance on things.”
Burke told VICE News he laid the staff off for “gross insubordination” following a heated exchange in his office during which he was accused of being a “political coward.”“For as long as I’ve been an elected official, I’ve passionately spoken out against white supremacy,” Burke told VICE News. “It’s an effort to defame me—understanding that I’m in an election year—by saying things that in some cases just aren’t true and in other cases are a gross misrepresentation of what actually happened.”
Shortly after a white supremacist fatally gunned down 10 Black men and women and injured three others at an East Buffalo grocery store, Burke, outraged by the tragedy, asked Dearing, who is Black, and his former communications director, Brendan Keany, to explore meaningful next steps to help prepare him for a speech he was giving to the state Assembly’s Black caucus the following day.
Among those steps, according to the former aides, were looking into the history of the great replacement theory (the idea that there’s an organized effort to replace white Americans with immigrants of color and other minorities), the local politicians who had spread the theory’s core ideas, and local white supremacist organizations and their supporters.
In a group chat with Burke’s former legislative director, Nicole Golias, Keany and Dearing shared a draft response to a tweet from Republican U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik that allegedly supported the “great replacement” theory.The three staffers told VICE News that the assemblyman turned down the proposed tweet outright.On a team meeting call, Burke “told us, ‘I know emotions are high, but I’m not willing to lose my seat over this issue,’” Golias said. “Basically, the gist was our former priorities are going to remain our priorities.”
The three say they suspected Burke didn’t want to rock the boat with the mostly white constituents in his district.
The following morning, Dearing said he told Burke over the phone their office should volunteer to help the East Buffalo community instead of hanging back. He also shared that he spent his weekend consoling his four Black siblings who were afraid to go to school, adding that his experience processing the violence of the Buffalo shooting was markedly different from Burke’s, who while having biracial children with his wife, who is Puerto Rican, are all white-passing.
Burke told VICE News the conversation wasn’t civil, and started with Dearing screaming at him.
“He calls me a political coward. He refers to my ‘lily-white family’ and ‘lily white Orchard Park,’ which is a suburb of Buffalo,” Burke said. “He’s screaming at me, out of control. I eventually tell him, ‘Who the fuck do you think you’re talking to? I’m your boss.’”
Burke said he hung up on Dearing after Dearing took a “minstrel” tone and referred to Burke as “Massa.” Burke then fired Dearing and Golias when he got to the office. He then turned to Keany and asked if he agreed with their assessment of how he was handling the response to the Buffalo shooting. When Keany said yes, he was fired as well.
“I’m not mad that I was fired,” Keany told VICE News. “If he felt we were insubordinate, and he wanted new people in that office who are aligned with every belief that he has and agrees with him, that’s his prerogative.”
“What I’m mad about is that this guy proclaims to be progressive, and then something so tragic… takes place and he wanted to go soft on it.”
Burke told VICE News he brought these aides on to support him. He told them that if they didn’t agree with his approach to leadership, he would accept their resignations. When Dearing refused, instead insisting that Burke would have to fire a Black man, Burke did—and the others who agreed with him. Dearing told VICE News he did say he’d have to be fired from his post.
The one person who remains on Burke’s team, Chief of Staff Alyssa Zbock, declined to comment.
The three former aides have retained attorneys to help them file a formal complaint about their termination. Dearing also said that he’s currently looking into filing a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
“This entire situation could have been avoided with more empathy, and also, more respect for the Black community,” Golias said. “We're living in an extremely pivotal time and it's more important than ever to say what you think is right and to live up to your values.”
Burke denies doing any wrong and that his track record when it comes to race issues and calling out white supremacy speaks for itself.
“If you're not passionately against white supremacy, you're a piece of shit,” he said. He mentioned that the governing body should do more to combat racism and right-wing extremism in the state in a speech to his colleagues on May 16.
He said that the reason he strayed from his initial plan was because he didn’t want to speak ahead of the majority leader, who represents the district where the shooting took place.
Burke, who currently represents South Buffalo, Kaisertown, Orchard Park, and West Seneca, fired three of his four-person staff on May 17 after they disagreed with his approach on how to respond to the shooting.
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Burke told VICE News he laid the staff off for “gross insubordination” following a heated exchange in his office during which he was accused of being a “political coward.”“For as long as I’ve been an elected official, I’ve passionately spoken out against white supremacy,” Burke told VICE News. “It’s an effort to defame me—understanding that I’m in an election year—by saying things that in some cases just aren’t true and in other cases are a gross misrepresentation of what actually happened.”
Shortly after a white supremacist fatally gunned down 10 Black men and women and injured three others at an East Buffalo grocery store, Burke, outraged by the tragedy, asked Dearing, who is Black, and his former communications director, Brendan Keany, to explore meaningful next steps to help prepare him for a speech he was giving to the state Assembly’s Black caucus the following day.
Among those steps, according to the former aides, were looking into the history of the great replacement theory (the idea that there’s an organized effort to replace white Americans with immigrants of color and other minorities), the local politicians who had spread the theory’s core ideas, and local white supremacist organizations and their supporters.
In a group chat with Burke’s former legislative director, Nicole Golias, Keany and Dearing shared a draft response to a tweet from Republican U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik that allegedly supported the “great replacement” theory.
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The three say they suspected Burke didn’t want to rock the boat with the mostly white constituents in his district.
The following morning, Dearing said he told Burke over the phone their office should volunteer to help the East Buffalo community instead of hanging back. He also shared that he spent his weekend consoling his four Black siblings who were afraid to go to school, adding that his experience processing the violence of the Buffalo shooting was markedly different from Burke’s, who while having biracial children with his wife, who is Puerto Rican, are all white-passing.
Burke told VICE News the conversation wasn’t civil, and started with Dearing screaming at him.
“He calls me a political coward. He refers to my ‘lily-white family’ and ‘lily white Orchard Park,’ which is a suburb of Buffalo,” Burke said. “He’s screaming at me, out of control. I eventually tell him, ‘Who the fuck do you think you’re talking to? I’m your boss.’”
Burke said he hung up on Dearing after Dearing took a “minstrel” tone and referred to Burke as “Massa.” Burke then fired Dearing and Golias when he got to the office. He then turned to Keany and asked if he agreed with their assessment of how he was handling the response to the Buffalo shooting. When Keany said yes, he was fired as well.
“I’m not mad that I was fired,” Keany told VICE News. “If he felt we were insubordinate, and he wanted new people in that office who are aligned with every belief that he has and agrees with him, that’s his prerogative.”
“What I’m mad about is that this guy proclaims to be progressive, and then something so tragic… takes place and he wanted to go soft on it.”
Burke told VICE News he brought these aides on to support him. He told them that if they didn’t agree with his approach to leadership, he would accept their resignations. When Dearing refused, instead insisting that Burke would have to fire a Black man, Burke did—and the others who agreed with him. Dearing told VICE News he did say he’d have to be fired from his post.
The one person who remains on Burke’s team, Chief of Staff Alyssa Zbock, declined to comment.
The three former aides have retained attorneys to help them file a formal complaint about their termination. Dearing also said that he’s currently looking into filing a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
“This entire situation could have been avoided with more empathy, and also, more respect for the Black community,” Golias said. “We're living in an extremely pivotal time and it's more important than ever to say what you think is right and to live up to your values.”
Burke denies doing any wrong and that his track record when it comes to race issues and calling out white supremacy speaks for itself.
“If you're not passionately against white supremacy, you're a piece of shit,” he said. He mentioned that the governing body should do more to combat racism and right-wing extremism in the state in a speech to his colleagues on May 16.
He said that the reason he strayed from his initial plan was because he didn’t want to speak ahead of the majority leader, who represents the district where the shooting took place.
Criticisms of government inaction at the local and national level have continued in the weeks since the mass shooting. Garnell Whitfield Jr., the son of the oldest victim, 86-year-old Ruth Whitfield, told a Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, “Is there nothing that you personally are willing to do to stop the cancer of white supremacy and the domestic terrorism that inspires?“Because if there is nothing, then respectfully, senators, you should yield your positions.”