Some BK Dems call for district leader’s resignation for ‘antisemitic conduct’

District Leaders aligned with Brooklyn Democratic Party leader Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn are pressuring an insurgent, reformer faction of the party to call for the resignation of one of their own after she blamed “Zionists” for deed theft in Brooklyn in an interview, not long after she shared a video that referenced antisemitic conspiracy theories. 

The letter, which was circulated among district leaders Wednesday, was shared by Joey Cohen-Saban and signed by nine other leaders, according to Cohen-Saban. “As Democratic district leaders, we have a duty to reject bigotry without regard to ideology, faction, or political convenience,” it reads, before calling for the resignation of Carmella Charrington, who was recently elected district leader. 

Charrington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. After initially facing criticism for sharing the video, she deleted the post and told The New York Times that she is not antisemitic and did not intend to amplify conspiracy theories. 

But some in the party see the criticism of Charrington as part of an attempt to protect Bichotte Hermelyn, who stands a good chance of being ousted as chair by Julio Peña III. Like Peña, Charrington was part of the Brooklyn Can’t Wait reform slate, supported by New Kings Democrats. Peña’s side says he has a narrow lead in pledged votes, but losing Charrington – or mishandling a tense situation with an ally under attack – could complicate his path to victory. 

And Wednesday evening, Bichotte Hermelyn announced another audacious plan to maintain her role leading the party. She will try to expand the party’s executive committee from 42 members to 68. 

“We want to create a perception of inclusiveness,” she said in an interview on NY1, “I think the perception has been backroom politics, and we don’t want that perception anymore.”

City & State first reported Monday that Bichotte Hermelyn was considering a last-minute rules change to find more votes. 

The New Kings Democrats quickly shot back. “This would be nothing short of an anti-democratic power grab by the party chair—changing the rules and packing the executive committee so she can overrule Brooklyn voters and hold on to her position,” the reform club said in a Wednesday night post on X. 

Late Tuesday, in screenshots of a group chat obtained by City & State, district leaders affiliated with NKD suggested that others not engage with the sign-on letter criticizing Charrington. “This is an attempt by the Party Chair to hold on to power after she lost an election, not a sincere attempt to fight antisemitism,” NKD President Tony Melone said in one of the messages. “We’ll keep working as a coalition to fight antisemitism and educate all our coalition partners, but we can’t throw away everything you’ve worked for – we need to stand together to win. There’s no need to respond to this letter or to post about this on social media. We can deal with this situation within our coalition, learn from it, and come out stronger.”

“Agree,” Assembly Member Maritza Davila replied.

In the text messages, Melone also said that Cohen-Saban was pointing to a similar sign-on letter in 2021 calling for the resignation of a district leader over anti-Asian posts. “It’s not a comparable situation for a bunch of reasons that we can talk about when there’s time, but in the end Joey and Rodneyse are seizing on any an opportunity to divide us, and the NY Post is happy to help,” Melone says in the message.

But Peña did choose to respond, after being contacted by City & State. “Antisemitism has no place in Brooklyn. I am committed to ensuring our Democratic Party is inclusive and representative of all Brooklynites. That includes confronting hate in all its forms,” Peña wrote in a statement. “Our coalition is working continually to provide newly elected leaders with tools and resources to fight antisemitism and hate as we build a party for all Brooklynites. When coalition members make mistakes, we call them in, confront them, and work together to learn and grow. We have an obligation to the voters who voted for change this June, and to all the communities in Brooklyn who deserve representation in our party, and we take that seriously.”

Like her allies, Bichotte Hermelyn also criticized Charrington.

“Antisemitism has no place in Brooklyn,” Bichotte Hermelyn wrote in a text to City & State. “Harrington (sic) was elected to serve this community and should know better. That kind of rhetoric is unacceptable from anyone entrusted with Democratic leadership, and it demands immediate accountability and reflection.”