GOP lesbian candidate once frisked a baby. She cost NYC $120K in a settlement.

Out and proud lesbian and failed lieutenant gubernatorial candidate Allison Esposito was the subject of a $120,000 police misconduct settlement, City & State NYC has revealed.

Esposito is running against Democrat Pat Ryan to represent New York’s 18th Congressional District, which crosses Orange, Dutchess and Ulster counties in the Hudson Valley and upstate area. During the last election cycle, it was the only Hudson Valley district that Republicans did not win.

Related:

Donald Trump lies to crowd: Tim Walz let the state “kidnap children to change their gender”

The law they’re referring to prevents courts from removing custody because a parent allowed their kid to get gender-affirming care.

Esposito’s campaign has pointed to her 25 years in in the New York City Police Department (NYPD), during which time the city had to settle to two police misconduct lawsuits against her, costing taxpayers $120,000 dollars.

Stay connected to your community

Connect with the issues and events that impact your community at home and beyond by subscribing to our newsletter.

Daily

Weekly

Good News

In 2005, three Black women filed a lawsuit against Esposito and other NYPD officers, accusing them of violating their civil rights through wrongful arrest on suspicion of shoplifting. In September 2003, three Black women—Kelli Williams, Diane Hodges, and Markeyta Wicker—were shopping at an H&M in Manhattan while on a trip to the city with their Philadelphia church group. According to a complaint they later filed against New York City, Williams noticed a purse with money protruding from it near the register. She picked up the purse, remarked that the money looked fake, and then left the store with her aunt, Hodges.

Upon exiting the store, plainclothes police officers, including Esposito, surrounded the women and accused Williams of theft. Esposito then wrapped her arms around William and held her, refusing to let her go. When Williams asked that she stop forcibly holding her, Esposito wrapped her arms around Williams while another officer “stated in substance ‘You’re going down, b**ch.'”

All three were charged with shoplifting, and all three cases were later dismissed.

“New York City police officers are encouraged to believe that they can violate the rights of persons, particularly, African-Americans like (the) plaintiffs … with impunity,” the women alleged in their lawsuit against the city. The city later settled the case for $95,000.

Even more shockingly, in 2017, a lawsuit was filed against Esposito because she allegedly arrested and assaulted an infant. The city settled with the infant’s mother, paying $25,000. Esposito and another officer allegedly entered an apartment building in East Harlem and “unlawfully stopped, assaulted, frisked, handcuffed, detained, arrested, and imprisoned” an infant named Rebecca Cuevas, according to a complaint filed by the infant’s mother, Chantal Vasquez.

Esposito’s attorney denied the allegations, saying that the plaintiffs’ own actions had partially caused or contributed to their injuries or damages. New York City eventually settled the lawsuit for $25,000.

Earlier this week, Politico reported that Esposito was reprimanded in 2016 by her superiors after her off-duty firearm, police identification and shield were stolen from a car, which she had left unlocked.

Esposito came out on PBS’s New York NOW in 2022, saying, “It’s part of who I am. I am a gay woman. I’m very proud to be a gay woman. It’s part of who I am and it feels like I’m now in a position to be able to help the people of the state of New York.”

“And as a female, as a gay female, as a New York City resident, and as a cop, I’m going to bring everything I can to this ticket to make sure that we deliver back to the people of the state of New York, the state they deserve,” she added.

Speaking about her political identity, Esposito said “I’m gay and Republican—it can happen. “

Don't forget to share: