New York judge forced to resign for attending Trump's January 6 rally
The events of January 6, 2021 continue to reverberate, with former President Donald Trump promising to pardon those who he believes were wrongly sent to prison.
A recent example of that came earlier this month when a New York state judge was forced to resign for having attended a January 6 rally hosted by then-President Donald Trump.
Judge claims that he actions were not improper
As Newsweek reported, the individual in question was Judge Donald R. Spaccio, who served as a village and town court judge in Montour Falls, Schuyler County.
According to the New York Law Journal, Spaccio argued that presence at the rally did not violate the general ban on judges engaging in political actions as it took place during a "window period" surrounding an election.
However, Newsweek noted that New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct administrator Robert H. Tembeckjian was unconvinced.
"Judges may not engage in political activity except for a limited time when running for office, and even then there are constraints on what they may do," Tembeckjian was quoted as saying.
"I would do it over again"
"Whether or not a judge was a candidate, attending the rally in Washington on January 6, 2021, was impermissible," the official added.
Central NY Judge Who Resigned Amid Scrutiny for Attending Jan. 6 Capitol Rally Says He'd Do It Again https://t.co/aqzf9dqm1J
— New York Law Journal (@NYLawJournal) September 27, 2024
For his part, Spaccio continues to justify his behavior, telling the Journal, "Yeah, I went to Trump's rally. There's a lot of things that are wrong with our country right now, so that's why I felt I needed to be there."
"I would do it over again," the former judge declared before adding, "We lose our rights when we go on the bench, and it's not right."
Spaccio involved in dispute with local officials over noise
Meanwhile, the Journal pointed out that his presence in Washington on January 6 was not Spaccio's only brush with controversy, as he also clashed with local officials over the use of a bird cannon at his printing business.
"I was shouting at officers I knew that threatened to arrest me for disorderly conduct because I had a bird cannon on my roof," Spaccio said of the incident.
"I was emitting noise because (a neighboring business) had a vacuum on his roof that put out as much noise as my bird cannon," he explained.
"So I told the mayor that if this is the case, I'll put a bird cannon up on my roof, and when he runs that thing, I'll run the bird cannon," he explained.
