New York sues ice cream store owner for false 911 call against BLM protesters

A New York ice cream store owner who allegedly hurled racist abuse at Black Lives Matter activists is being sued by the state for falsely claiming they threatened to shoot him.

The suit is the first time the attorney general has used the recently enacted law that makes it illegal to submit a false police report based on race.

Last summer, protesters gathered outside an Upstate New York ice cream store, Bumpy’s Polar Freeze, after the owner David Elmendorf allegedly said that he would not hire Black workers in a series of text messages that circulated on social media.

Mr Elmendorf reportedly reacted with fury, shouting “If you come over here I’m going to shoot you,” before unleashing a string of racial epithets and threatening to “kill all of you” while brandishing a gun.