DELMAR — The former town Republican Party chairman was in court on Monday to answer a harassment charge stemming from a dustup during dueling rallies on July 4.
Apparently Keith Wiggand pleaded not guilty in Town Court on Monday because he said on his Facebook page, Bethlehem Resident News, that will be back in court next month to answer the violation charge.
“I am hurt and appalled at the same time, an honest upright citizen cannot support their local law enforcement without being taunted and denigrated by these Marxists,” he wrote. “Well, I refuse to back down. I refuse to be intimated by these pukes.”
He said his pockets are “quite a bit lighter from the lawyer bill,” and expects them to get lighter after September. But he vowed to “continue fighting the forces that seek to destroy our nation.”
On July 4, Wiggand and others organized a Back the Blue rally at the five corners in support of the Bethlehem Police Department. A counter-protest was planned for outside Town Hall by supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement. That group migrated about a quarter mile up Delaware Avenue and set up camp across the street from the Back the Blue rally.
Bethlehem police called in reinforcements from the Albany County Sheriff’s Department and the State Police to keep the two sides separated.
Matt Lauricella went to the Back the Blue side of the street carrying a BLM signs, which didn’t sit well with Wiggand. The latter admitted on his Facebook page that he knocked Lauricella’s cell phone out of his hand and ripped up his BLM sign.
Lauricella posted videos of the incident and filed a complaint against Wiggand. Wiggand in turn said he filed a complaint against Lauricella.
The status of Wiggand’s complaint is not known at this time.
This story will be updated.
