Thomas Lopez-Pierre is, in his own words, "an active and proud member of the Barack Obama Democratic Club of Upper Manhattan". He boasts photos of himself with Barack Obama and Bill de Blasio. And he's running for the New York City Council against a Jewish candidate on a very simple agenda.
Nearly every tweet on Lopez-Pierre's feed contains the words "greedyJewish landlords". That's the way that Lopez-Pierre has chosen to brand his candidacy. And it's not the first time. In 2013, Lopez-Pierre became famous mainly for an email that he sent out which contained incisive remarks such as, "You are an uncle Tom Nigger bitch. Its Nigger bitches like you that have sold out the Black people of Harlem. To think there are about eight other candidates in this race that are Black and Hispanic and you decided to pick Mark Levine the only White/Jewish guy in the race to raise money for."
And Lopez-Pierre's rhetoric continues to be entirely straightforward.
As recently as this past August, Lopez-Pierre, in a fundraising pitch for his new campaign, sent out an email blast that, according to a Daily News story, continued his pattern of race-baiting aimed at the Jewish community. Under the subject line “SAVE HARLEM from Greedy Jewish Landlords,” the candidate wrote, “Greedy Landlords and NYC Council Member Mark Levine are working together to push Black and Hispanic tenants out of Harlem!”
“I don’t see it as anti-Semitic, I’m not going to be ashamed to be committed to the political and economic empowerment of the black community,” Lopez-Pierre told the newspaper on April 14. “Levine has no business representing a black community on the City Council.”
But that hasn't marginalized this member of the Barack Obama Democratic Club of Upper Manhattan within the party.
Despite the controversy Lopez-Pierre’s rhetoric has spawned, he is getting a hearing from local Democratic organizations. He joined Levine and a third District 7 candidate, Matthew Gros-Werter, along with three candidates from the neighboring Council District 6 — incumbent Helen Rosenthal and challengers Mel Wymore and Cary Goodman — at the Three Parks Independent Democratic Club on April 12.
Speaking there to a largely white audience, Lopez-Pierre stuck to his claims about the threat “Jewish landlords” posed to communities of color — pledging to “stop ethnic cleansing of black/ Hispanic tenants” in the district
“This is how I would make it simple for Jewish people,” he said. “If there was a candidate that was taking money from the construction managers that built concentration camps, the Jews would not look favorably upon that candidate.”
But Lopez-Pierre would like his own form of "segregation".
Previously, he attempted to found a social club in Harlem that would only admit rich black and Latino men and attractive women of color.
He said at the time: “I want it all, and I got it all. There are men who want the same.”
Hope and Change.