New York GOP Governor Candidate Building ‘Militia,’ Dems Say

New York Republican gubernatorial nominee Bruce Blakeman is illegally training private citizens, including some of his own acquaintances, to exercise police powers against civilians as part of a militia in Long Island, Democrats told the state court.

Participants in the training program have no law enforcement experience and at least five individuals who have enrolled are well into their 70s, say two Nassau County Democrats who sued the county last year over Blakeman’s plan to deputize private citizens to act as special deputy county sheriffs during public emergencies.

Blakeman’s attempt to confer police powers on private citizens “flies on the face of New York’s comprehensive and integrated legislative scheme regulating the exercise of peace and police powers,” plaintiffs say in their memo opposing Blakeman’s motion to dismiss the case. State law requires police and peace officers be trained and registered, and it lists 87 different categories of people who could act as peace officers in case of an emergency.

“It defies logic to assert, as Defendants do, that an armed, barely trained force of civilians could conceivably have any positive material impact on ‘public safety’ or ‘disaster preparedness’ in a county with more than 3,000 sworn, registered, and trained police officers and peace officers and hundreds of civilian volunteers,” plaintiffs say.

Militia Members

Blakeman, a Trump ally, said the county has selected retired NYPD detectives, former FBI supervisors and other federal agents, honorably discharged military veterans, and former members of the Israeli Defense Force.

Plaintiffs found through discovery that one participant is an extended family member of Blakeman who works in real estate and has no prior law enforcement experience, while another is a doctor who served on Blakeman’s transition team.

Four participants have either been arrested or have had warrants issued for their arrest, they say, and since six are already members of the Nassau County Auxiliary Police it is clear the program is a waste of resources.

The two sides are also battling over how much information to share about program participants as part of the discovery process, according to letters to the court filed Monday and Tuesday. Plaintiffs say they have filed personnel records under seal because the county defendants have “attempted to create uncertainty as to whether they consider the materials ‘confidential’” and have redacted a substantial amount of information in the files.

The county says it has only redacted Social Security numbers, residential addresses, criminal history records, and other categories listed in the confidentiality stipulation.

A campaign spokesperson for Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said Wednesday the effort is a “bizarre far-right proposal to undermine law enforcement.”

“According to these court records, Bruce Blakeman allegedly managed to do something even more MAGA than creating an armed citizen militia that answers to him, not law enforcement—he stocked it with unqualified friends, family, and civilians with arrest records,” spokesperson Ryan Radulovacki said.

Blakeman has taken an aggressively pro-law enforcement stance, backing Trump’s federal immigration surge in Minnesota and criticizing Hochul for paying “lip service” to public safety issues.

Blakeman didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Kelner & Kelner and Free and Fair Litigation Group Inc. represent the Democratic plaintiffs. Rosenberg Calica Birney Liebman & Ross LLP represents the county.

The case is Mulé v. Cnty. of Nassau, N.Y. Sup. Ct., No. 602642/2025, memorandum of law 3/3/26.