Crime & Safety

Trump Supporter Threatened With Knife In Park Slope, He Says

Robert Labrador said initial reports that he was attacked for opposing Trump were wrong, and that it was actually the other way round.

PARK SLOPE, NY — A Park Slope man reported attacked for opposing Trump is actually a fan of the commander-in-chief – and a knife was pulled on him because he wasn't afraid to show it, he said.

Initial reports claimed a knife-wielding man was a Trump supporter, furious that victim Robert Labrador refused to join him in celebrating the president.

But Labrador told Patch it was actually the other way around and he was threatened after he didn't want to donate to an anti-Trump campaign.

Find out what's happening in Park Slopefor free with the latest updates from Patch.

"I said, 'No, I support Donald Trump, I support President Trump,'" said Labrador, 50. "He responded with f--k you."

Labrador — who owns the real estate business Labrador & Company on President Street — was walking to grab a soda on Feb. 6 when Richard Richardson stopped him in front of 97 Seventh Ave. and asked for a donation to "Resist Trump," according to Labrador and prosecutors.

Find out what's happening in Park Slopefor free with the latest updates from Patch.

When Labrador refused and said he was a Trump supporter, Richardson pulled out a knife at about 5:15 p.m. then swung it at Labrador, the victim said.

"He said to me 'You’re going to have a bad day and 'I’m going to cut you,'" said Labrador. "I was in fear for my life."

Labrador started to scream and pulled out his phone to call 911 when Richardson fled the location. He was arrested a short time later.

The NYPD and the Brooklyn District Attorney's couldn't confirm what sparked the fight, but Richardson, 22, of East New York, was charged with menacing and harassment at his arraignment.

His court-appointed lawyer, Denny Ashworth, said that Richardson denies the charges against him.

Labrador has spent his entire life in Park Slope — which recently had a home filled with anti-Trump decorations — and said he gets jeers when he wears G.O.P. t-shirts around the neighborhood.

"I get verbal insults and biases because of what I believe in," said Labrador. "That's not the society I want to live in."


Image: Win McNamee/Getty Images

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