The suit claims a Republican county executive's creation of an armed unit of volunteer residents amounts to an “illegal, taxpayer-funded civilian militia.”

Democrats in suburban New York are suing a Republican county executive over his creation of an armed unit of volunteer residents. They say it amounts to an “illegal, taxpayer-funded civilian militia.” Nassau County Democratic lawmakers argue in their complaint filed Wednesday that Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman lacked the legal authority to form a cadre of special sheriff’s deputies last year.

Long Island lawmakers have sued Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman and a local sheriff for a program sanctioning a taxpayer-funded militia of armed civilians shrouded “in secrecy.” The suit challenges the legality of the “special deputy sheriffs” program announced in March 2024 to public outcry by Blakeman,