Opponents say it gives police officers and others more rights under the law than minority citizens and is unconstitutional.

 MINEOLA, NY (TIP): After multiple hours of comments from the public — which was almost exclusively against the bill — the Nassau County Legislature passed a bill that would make police officers and other first responders a protected class of citizen on par with racial and religious minorities, adding to the already considerable protection they have under the law. It would also, according to critics, give those officers more rights than minority groups.

The law, which was put forward by Legislator Joshua Lafazan, makes it a hate crime to “harass, menace, assault or injure” any first responder. The part of the law that most riled up critics is that it says that if the incident occurs while the officer is in uniform, there is an “irrebuttable presumption” that the officer was targeted because of their profession. Under the law, an officer could sue a citizen for harassment, and the citizen would not be able to prove in court that they were not targeting the officer because of their profession. That is not something that is offered to minorities when they are the victim of hate crimes — they have to prove that they were targeted because of who they are. “There is no justification for violence against first repsonders,” Lafazan said at the meeting. “And these bills will add further protections into law for Nassau County’s first responders as they protect us.”

The bill passed the Legislature 12-6. It will now go to Nassau County Executive Laura Curran to either be passed or vetoed. Prior to the meeting, Curran did not indicate how she would vote on the bill.