A New York public lawyer has resigned after ripping down posters of Israelis taken hostage by Hamas.
Victoria Ruiz, a New York public defender, was filmed taking down two posters with the headline ‘Kidnapped’ last week.
In the video shared by StopAntisemitism, Ruiz is seen taking the posters off a pole in a district in Manhattan. An individual filming Ruiz asks the lawyer: “Why are you taking down pictures of missing children?”. Ruiz appears to ignore the questioning and walks away.
After criticism from political and antisemitism campaigners, the lawyer resigned with immediate effect. Ruiz's colleagues were informed on Tuesday in a memo by New York County Defender Services (NYCDS) executive director Stan Germán.
StopAntisemitism executive director, Liora Rez, said the group are "pleased to hear" that Ruiz had stepped down.
Rez added: “We are pleased to hear that Victoria Ruiz resigned from her position at New York County Defender Services.
NYC - New York County public defender Victoria Ruiz caught removing posters of Israeli children kidnapped by Hamas terrorists.
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) November 5, 2023
It is absolutely unacceptable for someone with such bias and hate to serve in your office @nyc_defenders pic.twitter.com/mOwajkuArt
“Someone who openly denigrates a vulnerable community by tearing down these posters should not be representing New York County’s most vulnerable in court."
New York Mayor Eric Adams said: "As I’ve repeatedly said over the last month, the October 7 attacks on Israel were abhorrent, and every hostage should be immediately released to their family.
“As we see the fallout from this violence spill over into New York City, we must reiterate that hate has absolutely no place here.
“Tearing down a poster of a hostage is a deeply misguided act of disrespect to victims of terrorism.
“I stand firmly with all the innocent civilians caught in the middle of a war they did not ask for and the New Yorkers managing the fallout."
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Mayor of New York City Eric Adams (Photo by Arturo Holmes/Getty Images for National Urban League)
A spokeswoman for NYCDS said: “It has come to our attention that one of our attorneys, Victoria Ruiz, recently attended a public vigil solely in her capacity as a private citizen.
“Some of her actions at the event have drawn sharp criticism and we strongly condemn them as highly insensitive.”
The spokeswoman said Ruiz had apologised after an internal investigation and then resigned.
She concluded: “After an internal review, and a pledge by all involved to do better, we accept this apology and now refocus on the vigorous pursuit of our mission: achieving justice and dignity for every individual we represent.”
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