Errigo stirs controversy with 'kill the whites' remarks

Former state assemblyman and current 133rd Assembly District candidate Joe Errigo on Thursday charged that President Obama has failed to stifle racial tensions and violence, and that black people are being directed to "kill the whites."

"I hear the way he talks sometimes," Errigo told Connections host Evan Dawson during the weekday radio program broadcast on WXXI AM-1370. "They're telling the black people get out there, kill them. Kill the whites. So he's to blame."

Errigo was tapped by party leaders last month to replace the late Assemblyman Bill Nojay on the Nov. 8 ballot. Nojay won the primary despite having shot and killed himself days earlier. On Thursday, Errigo appeared on Connections along with his Democratic opponent Barbara Baer.

In Monroe County, the 133rd Assembly District includes Pittsford, Wheatland, Rush and Mendon, where the village of Honeoye Falls is located. The district also includes all of Livingston County and part of Steuben County.

Errigo made his on-air comments in the closing minutes of the show. He also spoke of growing up on Carter Street in the city, and that he wouldn't go there today in an armored car; that police are afraid to go out on some city streets.

Asked if he thought non-whites were treated differently, Errigo said: "No. No. I think they take that attitude because it's given to them."

►ANDREATTA: Hey, Errigo, you can go home again

In a later interview, Errigo said his reference to "he" was not Obama but the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the president's former pastor who infamously proclaimed "God damn America!" back in 2003, setting off a political firestorm when a recording of the sermon resurfaced in 2008. Wright has stoked racial tension, Errigo said. More than that, Errigo charged, "he advocates killing whites."

The president has since disavowed the pastor, and the pastor has lambasted the president. Nonetheless, Errigo said: "You would think he would stop, let's say the Rev. Wright from saying things like that only to incite racial tension."

"When he became president, I thought racial tensions will subside. It will be a good thing. But it only got worse," Errigo said. Asked if Obama played a role in that, Errigo answered: "You think he did anything to alleviate it? He's the commander in chief."

"I think he could have stopped it, or tried to lessen the tensions."

Asked if, then, Obama is to blame, Errigo said: "I guess, I'm — OK — he's not to blame. Rev. Wright. That's his pastor."

►Listen to the show (conversation starts at 46-minute mark)

Errigo later released a statement that read:

"My comments earlier today spoke to my belief of President Obama's lack of leadership with respect to supporting our law enforcement personnel and easing racial tensions that have escalated to alarming levels during his presidency. I certainly do not believe that President Obama is directly encouraging attacks on law enforcement nor encouraging divisive actions. Rather, I believe this tension is a buildup from cultural, socioeconomic and bitter political tensions among Americans. That must change. I have and will always support a society of tolerance, acceptance and peace, and will certainly do my part to contribute to that."

The full transcript of the exchange in question is as follows:

Dawson: "Joe, do you think nonwhite Americans are treated differently?"

Errigo: “No. No. I think they take that attitude because it’s given them. You know, I mean when you hear the president’s minister say instead of ‘God bless America, God damn America, let them feel the pain,’ now you’re bringing this back to slavery. And I was not part of that. My parents weren’t part of it. You know, we lost a lot of people over that fight. But I think the president has done a disservice. And you know I don’t condone, and I hear the way he talks sometimes that just — they’re telling the black people, get out there, kill them. Kill the whites. So he’s to blame."

Dawson: "Barbara do you think nonwhite people are treated differently?"

Baer: "Absolutely. Yes I do. And I think, I would disagree with all that Joe has said. I think this president has been extraordinary in trying to reach out to everybody. His choice of words, the way he has lived his life, the way the family has lived their life, is really, whatever color, its a model that should be used by whomever wins the White House on both sides."

Dawson: "All right. So this is a place where they disagree."

Reached afterward, Baer called Errigo's comments "absolutely unacceptable." Similarly, a joint statement by the Democratic Party chairs of Monroe, Livingston and Stueben counties, blasted the remarks as "deplorable" and sought an apology. Told of the comments, Monroe County GOP chairman Bill Reilich said it was the first he was hearing of the matter and declined comment.

Others did not hold back. Former Monroe County legislator Chris Wilmot, who represented the city's northeast side from 1996 until he was term limited in 2005, said he was "outraged beyond belief." Wilmot, who switched parties from Democrat to Republican in 2004, had asked to be considered to fill Nojay's ballot spot. On Thursday, he said Errigo "is part of why the Republican Party is being destroyed."

After the topic of race, Dawson turned the program briefly to questions from callers. Errigo, responding to a caller from Mendon asking about climate change, said: "They just found out that a university in England made this all up. That they took $11 million for themselves."

Dawson interjected: "Made up what?" To which Errigo said: "Made up the story. Global warming. There is no global warming, that was on the news .... There's climate change. I agree with that."

Errigo's comments appear to reference an Oct. 22 report regarding a global warming research center at the London School of Economics and Political Science that allegedly took credit for research it did not perform in order to claim government grants. Errigo, prompted by Dawson, explained that he saw climate change as part of a normal cycle, not something man-made: "Climate change has been going on for many many years."

BDSHARP@Gannett.com