Schmelz decries ex-Republican Saudino’s “hate and ignorance” caught on audio tape

Bergenfield Mayor Norman Schmelz
Saudino

HACKENSACK, N.J. — It was almost three years ago that Michael Saudino, popular Republican Bergen County Sheriff, helped solidify the GOP’s county-wide slide by switching allegiances to the then-insurgent Democrats

The move proved that the turncoat lawman’s principles were, at the very least, flexible. 

Now it appears they may’ve been worse than even that. 

On Thursday, WNYC reported published a secret recording of a ‘secret recording’ of Saudino making racist statements about black people and Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, a Sikh.

On the January 16th recording taken subsequent to Governor Phil Murphy’s inauguration, Saudino is heard telling colleagues, “[h]e talked about the whole thing, the marijuana, sanctuary state…better criminal justice reform. Christ almighty, in other words let the blacks come in, do whatever the fuck they want, smoke their marijuana, do this do that, and don’t worry about it. You know, we’ll tie the hands of cops.”

Now the Governor and others are calling for Saudino to step down from his long-held post.

“It’s outrageous that that the top law enforcement official in Bergen County is espousing such hate and ignorance,” said Norman Schmelz, the GOP mayor of Bergenfield and this fall’s Republican nominee for county executive. “This calls into question other actions of our County Government and how decisions to prosecute, enforce laws, and investigate illegalities are conducted.  The battle to fight ignorance and hate is not over in 2018. Unfortunately it is staring right us from County Government in Hackensack.”

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