On Friday, a city council member in New York was arrested and accused of carrying a firearm to a Palestinian demonstration on a university campus.
Reports show after the Thursday gathering at Brooklyn College, police reportedly urged Inna Vernikov, a Jewish Republican representing southern Brooklyn, to surrender herself on firearms charges.
Ms. Vernikov, present at the Brooklyn College protest, posted on X that anyone who stood with the protesters and chanted antisemitic chants while women and children were being raped, murdered, and beheaded was a Hamas supporter and apologist who wanted to bring the terror here to eliminate the Jewish people from the face of the earth.
A police official stated to inquiring media that Vernikov, 39, was spotted with the butt-end of her gun showing from the front section of her jeans.
According to police sources, no one was threatened or hurt as a consequence of her having a gun during a prior rally.
The following morning, Ms. Vernikov, 39, was charged and released with a notice to appear, according to the police. The council member may legally carry a weapon, but upon receiving the charges, she gave up her legally owned pistol and license to carry it.
New York City criminal defense lawyer Ali Najmi stated on X that demonstrations are a sensitive environment that does not allow concealed carry.
Inna Vernikov is a lawyer and politician who was born in Ukraine. She now represents New York City’s 48th District in the City Council and is the minority whip. Ms. Vernikov, one of 6 Republicans on the city council, won a seat that Democrats had previously held for almost a century.
Councilwoman Vernikov had represented several hundred clients successfully in immigration and marital law before coming to office.
Since taking office, Councilwoman Vernikov has established herself as a prominent critic of antisemitism, making headlines by publicizing incidents of antisemitic violence on a global scale, promising justice for the victims of anti-Jewish hate crimes, defunding the CUNY School of Law, and holding a historic hearing in the Council to expose antisemitism at the university.
