Public defenders fired in Florida for dissing Palestinians on Facebook

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., July 9 (UPI) -- The Broward County Public Defender in South Florida has fired two lawyers for calling Palestinians "cockroaches" and "swine" in Facebook postings.

Bruce Raticoff and Gary Sheres both deny they are racist. Raticoff says the posting on his Facebook page was made by someone else, while Sheres says he was referring only to Palestinians who celebrated the killing of three Jewish teenagers who were kidnapped on the West Bank.

Public Defender Howard Finkelstein apologized Tuesday for the postings. He promised that Muslims, Palestinians and Arabs in Broward County who need public defenders will get lawyers who will represent them without prejudice.

"They are the filthy swine they don't eat. Their ignorance to the world bewilders the dumbest people I have ever met," Sheres said in his posting.

Sheres also clicked "like" to Raticoff's post: "That's why the Palestinian people are considered the cockroaches of the world. Reprehensible and despicable with utter disregard for civility and humanity. Burn them to the ground."

Finkelstein said he has warned his staff many times that as public employees they can be held responsible for comments on social media. He said Raticoff, who has been an assistant public defender for 15 years, was warned in 2005 about a joke in the form of a multiple-choice question with one of the answers being "extreme Muslims."

Raticoff, while denying that he posted the "cockroach" comment, also said Finkelstein "spit on the graves" of those who died to uphold the First Amendment.