Suspect in anti-Semitism case awaits court action
William Sullivan, accused in an incident at Mother Earth’s Storehouse, last appeared before a judge on March 26.
TOWN OF ULSTER, N.Y. >> The criminal case against William Sullivan is still pending nearly five months after the Saugerties man was charged in connection with an alleged antiSemitic incident at Mother Earth’s Storehouse.
Sullivan, 21, was arrested March 22 and charged with aggravated harassment, a misdemeanor. Authorities said he allegedly made antiSemitic remarks to a fellow employee in the town of Ulster food store during a March 11 incident.
Sullivan pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charge in Ulster Town Court on March 26 and has not been back in court since.
Ulster County District Attorney Holley Carnright said the delay stems in part from the decisions by the town of Ulster’s two judges, Marsha Weiss and Susan Kesick, to recuse themselves from presiding over the case.
Carnright said because the two justices disqualified themselves, Ulster County Judge Donald A. Williams must assign the case to a justice in another municipality. Carnright did not say why Weiss and Kesick declined to preside.
Sullivan is accused of approaching co-worker Sarah Shabanowitz, who is Jewish, while she was in a cooler at the Kings Mall store, shutting off the lights and saying: “You’re in the gas chamber now, you f—ing Jew,” according to authorities and Shabanowitz’s mother, Jackie.
News of the alleged incident caught the attention of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who traveled to Ulster County for the press conference at which Sullivan’s arrest was announced.
Cuomo said he attended the press conference to bring attention to the rise in anti-Semitic episodes in the state this year.
Mother Earth’s Storehouse co-owner Kevin Schneider said in March that after the alleged incident was reported to store’s management, Sullivan was fired and Shabanowitz quit.
If convicted of the misdemeanor charge, Sullivan could be sentenced to up to one year in jail. Authorities have said he has no prior criminal record.