Muslim Bashing, Racial Slurs, and Political Retaliation Rock Staten Island Councilmember’s Re-Election Bid
By Rick LaRivière, M. Thomas Nast, and Frankie Pressman with Richard Luthmann
THE TAPE THAT BLEW IT WIDE OPEN
Three former staffers in Council Member Kamillah Hanks’s office just lit a political firestorm.
In an exclusive sit-down with journalist Richard Luthmann, Staffer 1, Staffer 2, and Staffer 3 laid out a disturbing portrait of racial, religious, and political abuse inside the office of the embattled Staten Island Democrat.
In blistering interviews, Luthmann recorded over two hours of audio. Together, they detailed an unrelenting atmosphere of bigotry, retaliation, and lawlessness inside one of Staten Island’s most powerful political offices.
The recorded statements, withheld until the authorities can properly review them and for the protection of the whistleblowers, reveal an office where anti-Muslim bigotry is common, racial slurs are dropped casually, and whistleblowers are smeared, isolated, and silenced.
“Every single person that’s ever worked in that office was retaliated against after asking for any kind of leave,” said Staffer 3. “They kicked me out of my office. They blocked me out of all platforms. They even said I was ‘gang-affiliated’ and ‘mentally ill.’”
The allegations come just days after City & State New York’s June 13 exposé and as early voting begins in the hotly contested Democratic primary.
Hanks faces a serious challenge from Abou Sy Diakhate, a community leader.
Staffer 1, a Muslim man, said his time in the office became a living nightmare.
“I was mocked for praying. Marci Bishop would roll her eyes and whisper, ‘Is he praying again?’” he said. “She told other staff, ‘I don’t know if he’s doing his job because he’s praying five times a day.’”
Hanks herself lashed out at Staffer 1 during Eid, when he missed a shift: “UNACCEPTABLE. THIS IS WHY I CAN’T TRUST YOU.”
But the hate didn’t end there. Hanks’s live-in boyfriend, Kevin Barry Love, escalated the intimidation with public Game of Thrones-style threats.
Kevin Barry Love—Hanks’ partner and political enforcer—added fuel to the fire.
After Kurtulus backed Diakhate’s ballot access, Love posted a veiled threat: “You will be remembered and certainly replied to after this June 24th folly is over… Winter is Coming.”
The NYC Commission on Human Rights Law Enforcement Bureau confirmed it is reviewing the threat. Staten Island District Attorney Michael McMahon was also copied on the email.
McMahon’s political team, including Carmen Cognetta, has supported Hanks in the race.
Ironically, Love is using the same kind of language and thug-like tactics that landed Luthmann, the interviewer himself, in federal prison years earlier. Luthmann says he’s the victim of lawfare, will seek a pardon from President Trump, and has “handed over materials” to administration officials, including Devin Nunes and Ed Martin.
“Some of the Hanks people are 105 years old with multiple social security numbers, according to public records,” Luthmann said.
But Staten Island’s political machine? Silent.
RACIAL SLURS, CRONYISM & CLASS WARFARE
Staffers say the abuse wasn’t just religious.
According to Staffer 2 and Staffer 3, Hanks and Chief of Staff Marci Bishop regularly referred to constituents with racial slurs, particularly residents of NYCHA housing and the Park Hill community.
“They’re not OUR voters,” Hanks reportedly said. “They got along before WE came along. THEY will survive.”
Staffers say Hanks and Chief of Staff Marci Bishop instructed them to withhold resources—baby formula, winter clothing, basic aid—from residents who didn’t “fit the profile.”
“They said not to waste resources on Park Hill,” said Staffer 2. “Kamillah said, ‘They got along before WE came along—they’ll survive.’”
“They told us not to give out baby formula or children’s clothes there,” said Staffer 3. “They weren’t ‘our voters.’”
The prejudice wasn’t limited to outsiders.
“They called Paul Casali a ‘cracker’ and said he got fired for being drunk and stealing campaign funds—but then brought him back to work the campaign!” said Staffer 3.
Even autistic staffer Michael Arvanites wasn’t spared: “They said he was ‘slow’ and ‘on the spectrum.’ They laughed about him constantly.”
The toxic office culture, they said, favored loyalty and silence over merit.
THE SMEAR CAMPAIGN & THE COVER-UP
After they complained, the staffers say they were punished.
Staffer 3, a woman from the community who previously worked for the anti-violence group True2Life, says she was accused by Hanks of having “gang ties.”
The irony? Hanks funded True2Life with city dollars and endorsed its founder, Malcolm Penn, for Democratic District Leader.
“Malcolm has the same ‘ties’ I do,” said Staffer 3. “But she backs him. So why smear me? Because I spoke up.”
Hanks has labeled all three whistleblowers as “disgruntled employees,” a claim they refute with work evaluations, timelines, and documentation.
“They targeted me after I filed for religious accommodation,” said Staffer 1.
“They isolated me and erased my email,” added Staffer 2. “They stripped me of duties, reassigned me to a dead-end, and told people I’d been terminated.”
But it wasn’t just Hanks and Bishop, the staffers said.
They accuse top city officials of enabling the abuse.
NYC Council HR Attorney David Francis, HR Director Camille Francis, and HR Officer Lucinda Cardinal—described by sources as “Marci’s friend”—all received detailed complaints. But nothing happened.
“They got our emails, our recordings, our evidence,” said Staffer 2. “They did nothing.”
THE SILENCE AT THE TOP
The whistleblowers say they attempted to take their complaints to Council Speaker Adrienne Adams.
But they were blocked by her “gatekeeper,” Labor and Employment Counsel Abid Hossain.
“Every time we tried to go above Marci and Kamillah, we hit a wall,” said Staffer 3. “Abid Hossain was the wall.”
They say Hossain downplayed their claims and froze out their union reps.
“He told our union lawyer it was ‘office drama.’ That’s what he called it.”
The staffers believe Speaker Adams is sitting on her hands because of political fallout.
“She doesn’t want to touch this before the mayoral primary,” one said.
Even formal complaints to the Council’s Equal Employment Opportunity officers—Nicole Benjamin and Chanelle Werts—went unanswered.
“The fix was in,” said Staffer 2. “Nobody wanted to take on Hanks.”
The silence sends a message: whistleblowers will be punished, not protected.
This outlet previously emailed NYC Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and the EEO office about these issues on June 5 and received no response. In the week leading up to the primary elections, this outlet views further requests for substantive comment from the NYC Government as an “exercise in futility” until after the polls close on June 24.
“Their silence speaks volumes, if not an admission of complicity,” Luthmann said. “The establishment officials know how to reach us. And we know how to ring up the feds. There are hard-working young people, and they deserve much better.”
FUNDING THREATS AND A CLIMATE OF FEAR
The threats weren’t just personal. They were political.
The staffers say Hanks and Bishop regularly used NYC Council discretionary funding to control allies and punish dissenters.
“They pulled funding from ‘Non-Profit Staten Island’ just because someone over there said something Kamillah didn’t like,” said Staffer 3.
“There is nothing in city law that protects nonprofits from retaliation. If you talk, they cut your funding.”
That fear, they say, keeps witnesses silent.
“People are afraid to come forward,” said Staffer 1. “They’ve seen what happened to us.”
The staffers want legislative reform to protect witnesses, whistleblowers, and community groups from political abuse.
“Mayor Adams has made this a city of law and order,” Luthmann said after the interview. “But under Kamillah Hanks and her cronies, it’s becoming a city of fear.”
Hanks was an early supporter of disgraced former Governor Andrew Cuomo in his bid for Gracie Mansion. Cuomo has not reciprocated with support. In fact, Cuomo has distanced himself from Hanks and her team.
THE ELECTION CLOCK TICKS
The stakes couldn’t be higher.
Council Member Kamillah Hanks is up for re-election. Her challenger? Community leader Abou Sy Diakhate.
NYC early voting runs from June 14 to June 22. Primary Day is June 24.
The allegations of anti-Muslim bias, racism, and retaliation are now public. The recordings are real. The silence from NYC Council leadership is deafening.
“Kamillah says we’re disgruntled,” said Staffer 2. “But we were the ones doing the work. We were the ones helping the community. She was too busy playing politics.”
They say voters have a right to know.
And the clock is running out.
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