Aaron Schlossberg — the racist New York lawyer who went viral after insulting and threatening people for speaking Spanish at a restaurant — apologized on Twitter Tuesday, saying he loves New York City because of immigrants and diversity.
Schlossberg, who was caught on video and in photos being a bigot in at least four instances over two years, apologized to the "people I insulted," saying, "I am not racist."
The statement says:
To the people I insulted, I apologize. Seeing myself online opened my eyes — the manner in which I expressed myself is unacceptable and is not the person I am. I see my words and actions hurt people, and for that I am deeply sorry. While people should be able to express themselves freely, the should do so calmly and respectfully. What the video did not convey is the real me. I am not racist. One of the reasons I moved to New York is precisely because of the remarkable diversity offered in this wonderful city. I love this country and this city, in part because of the immigrants and the diversity of cultures immigrants bring to this country. Again, my sincerest apologies to anyone and everyone I hurt. Thank you.
In the most recent video — which prompted widespread outrage and a formal complaint against him with the state court's disciplinary committee — Schlossberg was seen berating employees and customers at a Fresh Kitchen for speaking Spanish and threatening to report them to immigration officials to get them "kicked out of my country."
"Your staff is speaking Spanish to the customers. They should be speaking in English," Schlossberg told a manager at Fresh Kitchen, which is located next to his law firm. "My guess is they're not documented, so my next call is to ICE to have each of them kicked out of my country."
"Every person I listen to — he’s speaking it, she’s speaking it," Schlossberg continued. "This is America! If they have the balls to come here and live off my money...I pay for their welfare. I pay for their ability to be here. The least they can do is speak English."
After the video was widely shared, US Rep. Adriano Espaillat filed a formal complaint against Schlossberg with the state court's disciplinary committee for his "bald-faced racism" and "vile" attack against people in the restaurant.
Schlossberg was also kicked out of the Manhattan office space where he ran his own law firm.
BuzzFeed News reported four other instances of Schlossberg's bigoted behavior: A woman said she saw Schlossberg screaming, “go home, we don’t want you here, you’re what's ruining America” at a man on a subway; he told anti-Trump protesters at a rally, "You should just say ‘Thank you for letting me in your motherfucking country'"; Schlossberg told a rabbi, "you're a fake Jew"; and he called a stranger "an ugly fucking foreigner" after accusing him of running into him on a sidewalk in Manhattan.
