Alan Dershowitz says he's suing Martha's Vineyard vendor for refusing to sell him pierogi

Yahoo

2 days ago

If there's one thing that can be counted on every summer, it is that Alan Dershowitz will make a loud public stink about the social angst he suffers at Martha's Vineyard.
This time around, the former Jeffrey Epstein lawyer is crying foul that he was refused pierogi at a farmer's market, claiming he was discriminated against due to his political beliefs and that he will be suing the vendor for violating his rights.
Meanwhile, a local resident who captured Dershowitz being confronted by local police over the incident tells The Independent that he stepped in to stop the famed defense attorney from continuing to harass the vendor, who reached out to thank him later and even offered him some free pierogi for his troubles.
'I'm somewhat fearless when it comes to facing these types of bullies,' the resident said.
Dershowitz, who has been in the news recently amid the uproar over the Trump administration's handling of the Epstein files, took to his social media accounts Wednesday night to loudly complain about the latest shunning he'd experienced at the summer playground for the ultra-wealthy.
'Bigoted vendor @ Martha's Vineyard Farmer's Market refused to sell to me for political reasons. I'm suing,' he tweeted while promoting an upcoming broadcast of his online show on Rumble, a right-wing-friendly alternative to YouTube.
During his Rumble show that evening, Dershowitz reiterated that he would be filing a lawsuit against the business Good Pierogi, making sure to toss in a bit of criticism about their product for good measure.
'There was the pierogi place,' Dershowitz said. 'They're Ukrainian, Russian delicacies. And I had gone there a few times before, and I bought the pierogi. They were OK. They were not my grandmother's pierogi, but they were OK.'
He went on to claim that after he asked for six pierogi, the vendor told him they wouldn't sell to him because they 'don't approve' of his politics, who he has represented legally in the past and who he supports politically.
'The clear implication was that he opposed me because I defended Donald Trump and because I was a Zionist,' he added. 'I think that's illegal.'
Dershowitz also claimed that he wore a 'Proud American Zionist' t-shirt the prior week he was at the market and it led the vendor to look at him 'strangely,' even though he acknowledged that the two did not speak at that time.
In a video posted to Instagram on Wednesday by resident Chris Hulbert, Dershowitz could be seen speaking to a West Tisbury police officer about the incident. Throughout the exchange, Dershowitz could be heard griping that the vendor 'won't sell to me' while the officer pulled the emeritus Harvard Law professor to the side to talk about the issue.
With Dershowitz also taping the conversation on his phone, the officer disagreed with Dershowitz that Good Pierogi was violating Massachusetts law because he understood that private establishments had the right of refusal.
While the officer added that the former Trump impeachment attorney could pursue a complaint against the vendor through 'civil means,' he also asked for Dershowitz to stay away from the vendor and the respect that it was private property. Dershowitz, on the other hand, continued to debate that the vendor did not have the right to discriminate against him based on his personal politics – all while pointing out that he would be posting the footage online.
In his Instagram post, Hulbert claimed that he stopped the celebrity lawyer 'from harassing a vendor who wouldn't serve him pierogi at the farmer's market on Martha's Vineyard,' noting that he also 'made a statement to the police.' Hulbert further asserted that the police officer had threatened to cite Dershowitz for trespassing if he bothered other vendors, insisting that three others at the market also refused to serve the attorney.
'The police took a [statement] from me. No one else wanted to do it because he sues everyone here. Was talking about suing the vendor. Total scum!' Hulbert wrote, prompting Good Pierogi to reply 'thank you so much' on his Instagram post.
In an interview with The Independent, Hulbert spoke about his interaction with Dershowitz, noting that he wasn't initially aware that it was the celebrated lawyer when he first happened upon him.
'He was already rejected by the vendor, and then started b*tching and complaining and videotaping his statements to try to dissuade people from patronizing the vendor, and I walked up and I had no idea who he was,' Hulbert said. 'So his statement was that because of his political views, they weren't serving him.'
After Hulbert asked what political views caused him to be refused service and whether it was because he's a 'Trumper,' he claimed that Dershowitz insisted it's 'the opposite' and that he 'opposes Trump.' Instead, according to Hulbert, Dershowitz said 'they object to my clients' before revealing that he's represented Trump and Epstein. At this point, Hulbert noted, he realized who Dershowitz was.
After Hulbert claimed he told Dershowitz that he'd be 'really pleased to know' that he was the vice president of Take Back New York and lobbied for the passage of New York's sex offender registry act, he said Dershowitz became distracted and briefly stopped bothering and videotaping the vendor.
Hulbert also told The Independent that it was the police officer who informed him that three other vendors at the market had complained about Dershowitz and also may have refused him service as well. Additionally, while Dershowitz — who is Jewish and known for his fervent pro-Israel stance — suggested on his show that his Zionist beliefs may have played a part in the 'bigoted' vendor's actions, Hulbert disputed that was the case.
'I saw no evidence of or even a hint of antisemitism from the vendor,' Hulbert told The Independent. 'This was very personal between them.'
While Hulbert says he hasn't heard back from the police department or Dershowitz amid the legal complaints, he did note that Good Pierogi had thanked him for coming to their aid and offered to give him some free pierogi. He also said that he wasn't worried about any potential blowback from Dershowitz himself.
'If I had to, I could defend myself or retain counsel if I needed to fight fire with fire,' he concluded. 'I'm somewhat fearless when it comes to facing these types of bullies.'
The West Tisbury Police Department issued a press release on Thursday afternoon about the incident, noting that one of its officers was asked by the market's manager on Wednesday morning for 'assistance at the pierogi tent' and that Dershowitz then 'expressed his displeasure with the operators of the pierogi tent, as they expressed their displeasure with his political views.'
'Reserve Officer [Nate] Vieira was able to assist in de-escalating the situation, and eventually, all parties involved went their separate ways,' the press release continued. 'The incident/information was forwarded to the Martha's Vineyard Agricultural Society Administration.'
Dershowitz and Good Pierogi did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In recent years, it has become commonplace for Dershowitz to grouse about his social suffering at the exclusive enclave, which he has largely chalked up to his defense of Trump since the president's first administration.
After Dershowitz first began griping in 2018 that he'd become ostracized by the Martha's Vineyard social elite, the New York Times ran no less than four separate stories about his complaints – including an interview with the longtime Harvard Law professor. In fact, the Times' executive editor admitted that the Gray Lady had done too many Dershowitz stories.
'We are trying to increase our coverage of cranky white guys,' Dean Baquet joked to The Daily Beast at the time. 'Seriously, it's a big place and different desks made their own plans. We should have coordinated better and done fewer.'
Since then, Dershowitz has continued to publicly fume about being 'blackballed' on the island, which has included book fairs canceling his appearances, invitations to cocktail parties drying up and comedian Larry David 'screaming' at him at a Chilmark store. On top of that, Dershowitz made his 'cancellation' at Martha's Vineyard one of the central themes in his 2022 book The Price of Principle: Why Integrity Is Worth the Consequences.
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