Giuliani Last Weekend

By David Lion Rattiner

It was a very interesting day in Bridgehampton last weekend, so interesting in fact that the entire political world was talking about it. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani was crossing the street when a man by the name of John W. McCluskey, a documentary filmmaker, was doing the same thing.

What happened between the two of them is somewhat of a mystery, but what we do know is that an argument broke out. According to Giuliani, he was verbally attacked and then physically threatened. According to McCluskey, he was speaking his mind to a politician, then was threatened by Giuliani physically and threatened him back. The incident took place on Saturday and has had just about everybody talking about it, including large media outlets like the New York Post and the New York Daily News.

But Mr. McCluskey has expressed frustration with both reports, which have labeled him as an angry person. Mr. McCluskey has even threatened to sue for defamation because of the accounts.

So what got the two of them so fired up? Well, according to one report, Mr. McCluskey bumped into Mr. Giuliani in a crosswalk and began to complain to him about a prosecution that was targeted at him by Mr. Giuliani when he was the U.S. Attorney. Giuliani responded with a threat, and then Mr. McCluskey gave a threat back and the police got involved. Mr. McCluskey was taken to jail and let go on $100 bail.

The real question that needs to be answered is who threatened physical abuse first, and it doesn't look like there is any way of knowing so far.

Another issue at hand is the public aggressive yelling at public officials. Although it is obvious that this incident escalated where police needed to be involved, even at the local level in East Hampton and Southampton, public officials are being harassed. There have been plenty of reports of East Hampton Town Supervisor Bill McGintee being verbally attacked during his private life, whether it is out at a restaurant or in the street. The same can be said for Linda Kabot in Southampton. It is a fine line between speaking your mind and harassment and it is often blurred with animosity, politics and he said/she said.