Long Island lawmakers have sued Nassau County executive Bruce Blakeman and a local sheriff for a program sanctioning a taxpayer-funded militia of armed civilians shrouded “in secrecy.”
The suit challenges the legality of the “special deputy sheriffs” program announced in March 2024 to public outcry by Blakeman, which authorizes the activation of “minimally trained, unregistered private civilians to act as special sheriff’s deputies with authority to use deadly force and make arrests under color of law” if Blakeman declares an emergency.
The suit, filed Tuesday by Democratic members of the Nassau County legislature’s public safety committee, Debra Mulé and Scott Davis, alleges that Blakeman — a prominent Republican and ally of President Trump — and Nassau County Sheriff Anthony LaRocco have stonewalled their requests for basic information about the program’s development and withheld details of how it’s being funded in their 2025 budget proposal to the local legislature.
In a statement Wednesday, one of their lawyers, civil rights attorney Carey Dunne, said allowing local leaders to arm civilians and grant them police powers could have nationwide implications.
“County Executive Blakeman’s militia endangers public safety in Nassau County and the health of our democracy nationwide,” Dunne said. “Our lawsuit alleges an authoritarian power grab in the heart of suburban America, where a handpicked group of armed vigilantes operates secretly at the beck and call of an unchecked executive.”
One request for information denied by Blakeman and LaRocco last year sought details about what training the militia members — paid $150 daily stipends — were undergoing, where they were receiving it, who was conducting the training, how many hours were required, and how much it was all costing New York taxpayers, according to the lawsuit.
The suit says the militias are illegal under New York law, which, in emergencies, allows local police departments to enlist officers from municipalities’ law enforcement agencies, and questions the need for civilian paramilitaries when Nassau County — ranked last year as the safest county in the U.S. — has a police department with 2,500 members, hundreds of unarmed civilian volunteers, and the ability to request assistance from 60,000 registered officers statewide.
“Defendants have not publicly explained how a group of less than one hundred armed civilians would materially aid the thousands of trained, registered, sworn, and armed police and peace officers available to meet the needs of Nassau County residents in the event of an emergency,” the suit filed in Nassau County Supreme Court reads.
It’s also unclear who has been recruited so far, the suit details, referencing reporting in Newsday that said 25 people had been signed up as of September, six of whom Blakeman and LaRocco had refused to share details about publicly.
The suit seeks a court order finding Blakeman and LaRocco’s creation of the civilian militia with taxpayer funds illegal, an order barring them from continuing to use public funds and resources to deputize private citizens, and a directive they respond fully to an outstanding Freedom of Information Law request, which also seeks information on what weapons recruits are being armed with.
The suit was brought on the same day Blakeman announced a never-before-seen initiative that will see 10 Nassau County detectives partner with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement to help carry out Trump’s mass deportations.
At a press conference Tuesday, Blakeman and Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder refused to rule out that local detectives “working on behalf of ICE” would not target undocumented immigrants who have not been accused of violent crimes. The Trump administration has made clear it regards anyone in the U.S. without documentation to be a criminal.
Asked whether the civilian militias would be enlisted to work alongside ICE, Blakeman said, “They have nothing to do with this.” Representatives for Blakeman and LaRocco did not respond to the Daily News’s inquiries Wednesday.
At a press conference Wednesday announcing the suit, Seth Koslow, a Democrat who plans to challenge Blakeman in the general election in November, said that although Blakeman denied the militias would be involved in the ICE partnership, it was impossible to confirm given the lack of transparency.
“I don’t believe when he says he won’t use them. I’m concerned he will activate them and declare an emergency where an emergency doesn’t exist,” Koslow said. “He’s already said he can use the militia for protests or for anything he deems to be an emergency. We don’t know what he wants to do. We don’t know what they’re trained to handle because he hasn’t told us.”