Facebook postings that promoted Nazi imagery and the denigration of women have led to the punishment of a former town justice from Montezuma, near Syracuse, the state Commission on Judicial Conduct reported on Thursday.
The commission said it has recommended the removal from office of Justice William H. Futrell, a non-lawyer who owns a firearms store, but the Montezuma town supervisor told The Buffalo News that Futrell left office 10 months ago.
The commission said its investigation showed that Futrell in 2022 used Facebook to post inappropriate Nazi images, and said the judge also posted numerous “likes” on Facebook pages featuring “scantily clad women in sexually provocative poses.”
Futrell posted on Facebook an image of Facebook’s co-founder, Mark Zuckerberg – who is Jewish – wearing Nazi military garb, the commission said in a press release.
Futrell, who took office in 2020, did not respond to a phone message or a social media message from The News seeking his side of the story.
The commission said Futrell should also be prohibited from ever holding a judicial office in the future.
Futrell “never told me” whether the resignation in February had anything to do with the state commission’s investigation into his Facebook postings, Town Supervisor David Corey told The News.
“He emailed me that he was leaving office but never told me why,” Corey said. “I became supervisor last year. I’ve never met the man … I can tell you that anything that supports Nazis would not reflect the feelings of people in this town. Absolutely not. There’s no room for Nazi stuff in this town.”
Montezuma – a town of about 1,800 – is in Cayuga County, about 122 miles east of Buffalo and 35 miles west of Syracuse.
Commission Administrator Robert H. Tembeckjian made the following statement.
“It is astonishing and utterly contemptible that anyone, let alone a judge, would adopt or promote Nazi imagery. Needing to say…
Read the full article here
Leave a Reply