Vandal’s attorney cites KKK

The mentally ill Bronx man accused of scrawling a racial slur on the African Burial Ground engaged in the same type of inflammatory, protected speech used by the KKK and President Trump, the alleged vandal’s attorney argued Wednesday.

The federal defender representing Ivan Nieves stunned the courtroom by reading vile, racist Klan rhetoric that the Supreme Court determined in 1969 was protected speech in a landmark decision. The racial slurs and anti-Semitic remarks were the opening salvo in attorney Phil Weinstein’s “thought exercise” regarding why the disorderly conduct and vandalism charges against Nieves (below) should be dismissed.

“Consider what’s going on in contemporary politics. Charlottesville — blood and soil,” he said.

“‘Beat them up. I will pay for them’ — uttered by one of our leaders,” he added, referencing Trump’s call for violence at a campaign rally. Weinstein also cited Trump’s calls to “rough up the press.”

The attorney argued that Nieves’ alleged offense — writing “Kill n—rs” on the lower Manhattan monument to mostly enslaved Africans — was not nearly as serious.

“Compare that with magic marker and two words on a sign,” Weinstein said. “This was advocacy. It wasn’t incitement. It’s clearly protected by the First Amendment …. Whether it’s done at the African Burial Ground or at Congress, however abhorrent it may be, it’s protected speech.”

After his arrest in November of last year, a neighbor told the Daily News that Nieves, who is Puerto Rican, had a longstanding hatred of black and Dominican people.

Magistrate Judge Ona Wang did not say when she would rule on Weinstein’s request to toss the charges. The judge appeared more concerned about Nieves’ mental health.