Democrat State Lawmaker Who Said Racist Slur Arrested for Shoplifting

Delaware State Rep. Gerald Brady (D) has been arrested for shoplifting nearly six months after he was publicly embarrassed over a racist comment he made in an email.

The arrest warrant for the 65-year-old Brady was issued on Tuesday for two counts of shoplifting at an Acme grocery store in Newark, Delaware.

“Police said an employee called the police after recognizing Brady, 65, from a previous incident on Dec. 29 last year,” reported the Hill.  “Newark police said the employee noted the license plate number of Brady’s vehicle and confronted him ‘as to his failure to pay for the merchandise.'”

Police said Brady declined to pay for the merchandise that totaled less than $200 and turned himself in to authorities a few hours after the arrest warrant was issued before being released on his own recognizance. Brady’s attorney, Victor Battaglia Jr., told The Associated Press that people should avoid jumping to conclusions for the time being.

“We would just ask that people and the media not jump to any conclusions,” Battaglia said.

In July of last year, Brady, who is executive director of Delaware AFL-CIO, said he would not seek reelection after an email surfaced in which he used a slur against Chinese women. The email surfaced when he mistakenly replied to a message from an advocate for decriminalizing prostitution when he meant to forward it to a friend.

“Is the dude basically saying, if we provide free (oral sex) for Uncle Pervie there will be few rapes and few c***k broads will be shipped in CONEX containers to the Port of Wilmington??” Brady wrote from his official government email address.

Brady immediately apologized when the comment went public as people called for resignation.

“There is no excuse I can offer that explains my embarrassing and shameful words that insulted, stereotyped and dehumanized an entire culture while making light of a serious human rights crisis,” Brady said at the time.

“My words matter, both as a state legislator and as a person, and I deeply apologize for the inexcusable language I used,” he added.

The Delaware Democrat Party did not accept his apology.

“Misogynistic, anti-Asian language has no place in our Party and calls into question the integrity of any leader,” Betsy Maron, chair of the Delaware Democratic Party, said in a written statement. “No apology will rectify the fact that Representative Gerald Brady felt comfortable enough to use such hateful language behind closed doors.”

Brady declined to resign and instead chose not to seek reelection. He officially resigned last Friday from the State House of Representatives in the wake of his shoplifting arrest, saying he had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of his deployments to the Middle East with the Delaware National Guard.