A top aide for State Sen. Julia Salazar who praised Hamas on a private social media channel following the terror group’s deadly incursion on Israel was fired Monday morning.
Salazar’s Communications and Policy Director Sarah Campbell was told she could either resign or face termination before ultimately being fired Monday — a decision passed down by Senate Democratic Leadership, the former staffer told The Times Union.
Hours after news broke on Oct. 7 of Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel, which left at least 1,200 Israelis dead, Campbell wrote “By any means necessary,” on X.
“After how many decades of a violent occupation does armed resistance become justified,” she wrote on Oct 12.
She continued: “I don’t condemn Hamas, I condemn Israel. Who has reigned more terror: Hamas in the entirety of their existence, or Israel in just the last 30 days? Which group has massacred more civilians? Displaced millions? Bombed hospitals? Killed premature babies? Starved an entire people?”
Campbell, who had given Salazar access to her personal social media account, said the comments were posted on a private channel that was not visible to the public.
While Campbell’s X account is private, The Post was able to obtain screenshots of her posts.
“There has never been any problems with me expressing things on Twitter in-person,” Campbell told the paper, adding that she recently had a positive performance review with the Brooklyn Democrat.
“I have never been told my personal beliefs were a problem. I’ve never been told I should tone it down.”
Salazar, a Democratic Socialist, has called for a ceasefire while trying to subdue the left’s most extreme rhetoric on the war.
“Some on the Left … wrongly minimize or willfully ignore Hamas militants’ horrific crimes against Israeli civilians,” she wrote in an Op-Ed for Jacobin, a socialist magazine.
Salazar noted that this likely occurs as leftists try to maintain “an impossible image of Palestinians as incapable of ever committing unjustified violence.”
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“But the reason Palestinians deserve liberation is not because they are perfect victims,” Salazar continued. “There is no such thing as a perfect victim. Instead, Palestinians deserve liberation because they are human.”
Seemingly in response to The Post’s initial report about Campbell’s social media posts, the Brooklyn Democrat defended her office and stated that her former staffer’s posts were “reckless and completely unacceptable.”
Follow along with The Post’s live blog for the latest on Hamas’ attack on Israel
“Too late at night to fully address the cynical hit piece published regarding social media posts that a staff member posted to her personal, locked social media account without my knowledge. Her personal thoughts are not mine, and do not reflect me or my office in any way at all” Salazar wrote.
“Those who know me know I take my role as a public servant seriously; I do my job thoughtfully, choose my words with care,” she continued. “I’m not going to allow anyone to wrongly pin another person’s reckless and completely unacceptable words onto me or my office. I want nothing to do with that.”
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