NY state Assembly candidate ‘harassed voters’ at poll site in Queens, NYPD says
NEW YORK — A longshot Republican Assembly candidate perhaps better known as a serial sperm donor was taken into custody on Election Day and summonsed for harassing voters at a Queens polling site, police said.
Jonathan Rinaldi, 45, was issued a criminal court summons for harassment, then released.
Police said officers confronted him at 10:25 a.m. inside Public School 101, The School in the Gardens, on Russell Place near Ascan Ave. in Forest Hills.
Rinaldi was holding a sign and yelling at voters, police said.
He did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily News.
Rinaldi is also running as a candidate for the We The People and Truth parties against Democrat Andrew Hevesi.
Before running for office, Rinaldi made headlines as a repeat sperm donor with more than a dozen kids.
He was also a reality TV star and is a known antivaccine activist.
Last year, as a City Council candidate, he reportedly confronted his opponent, Democratic Council Member James Gennaro, and challenged him to a debate.
When Gennaro called Rinaldi a white supremacist, Rinaldi blew up, according to a video posted on social media.
“You talk to me like that, I’m gonna catch you outside and make you, show you what a white supremacist is!” he yelled, according to the video.
Gennaro suggested Rinaldi was threatening him, to which Rinaldi said, “Yeah, you better believe it’s a threat. You want to insult me? I’ll whoop your ass!”
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