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Republican Who Offered Black Voters ‘Watermelons & Kool-Aid’ Was Just Arrested

Republican Who Offered Black Voters ‘Watermelons & Kool-Aid’ Was Just Arrested

Jon Girodes, the New York Republican Senate candidate who enraged Harlem voters by announcing that he would ‘donate’ “Kool Aid, KFC and watermelons” at a campaign event in the primarily black community was just arrested for stealing $50,000 in a Craigslist “key money” scam to ripoff unsuspecting renters.

Cops say Jon Girodes, 38, listed his luxury apartment at 635 W. 42nd St. for a bargain-basement price of $1,100 and “rented” it to victims who could pony up to a year’s rent in cash. Cops say Girodes’ victims were both women and men and he took them for a total of $50,000 combined. “He is a true sociopath,” said Sara Angella one of his victims, “He created a cloak of legitimacy before he struck.”

Shamefully, the Republican politician used his public persona as a vehicle to shake down unsuspecting victims who thought they were getting one of the best deals in the city. Girondes even told some victims that he is a public official, which is blatantly false (and illegal), given that he is merely a candidate. Angella told her story to the New York Post:

Angella, 31, said she answered Girodes ad in mid-August and met him at the gorgeous Hell’s Kitchen apartment.  “I knew it was too good to be true, but I looked him up and he really was running for the Senate. He was wearing a Trump hat when I met him,” she told The Post. Angella said she was starting a Master’s Degree in theology at the Jewish Theological Seminary and thought she had lucked into “some good karma.” From her student loans she took $9,000 cash and gave it to him in exchange for the lease. But the day she was supposed to move in – Aug. 28 – she said the Republican candidate texted her “a bunch of excuses” about why he couldn’t meet her at the apartment or give her the keys. Angella said when she complained to the building management, she was told she wasn’t the only victim.

Unfortunately, Angella isn’t even the first woman to step forward and complain about the New York Republican Senate candidate’s scam,which cost her $3,200 dollars and was reported publicly. After the fifth complaint, the police finally stepped in to arrest the con-artist politician. “I think it’s important to out [Girodes’s racist comments] not just to denounce him,” said his opponent, incumbent Democratic New York State Sen. Bill Perkins commenting on Girodes’ offensive campaign ideas, “but to set a tone in this neighborhood and in this city that this type of offense does not go unchallenged.”

Luckily for Democratic Senator Perkins, New Yorkers do know a con when they see one, and his Republican opponent likely sealed his loss with his very public arrest for committing a vicious “key money” fraud while running for office on the Republican ticket.

 

Grant Stern
is the Executive Editor of Occupy Democrats and published author. His new Meet the Candidates 2020 book series is distributed by Simon and Schuster. He's also mortgage broker, community activist and radio personality in Miami, Florida., as well as the producer of the Dworkin Report podcast. Grant is also an occasional contributor to Raw Story, Alternet, and the DC Report, and an unpaid senior advisor to the Democratic Coalition and a Director of Sunshine Agenda Inc. a government transparency nonprofit organization. Get all of his stories sent directly to your inbox here:

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