The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) recently hired Dyjuan Tatro, the former “triggerman” for Albany’s Original Gangsta Killers street gang, who referred to police officers as “white supremacists” after the January 6 Capitol riot and once defended looting as a “VITAL form of social PROTEST,” social media posts show.
The DCCC announced the addition of Tatro as the “Senior Advisor of Strategic Outreach for the DCCC’s Diversity and Inclusion Department” in a February 3 announcement, describing him as someone who “has leveraged his education and experience to shift public policy in favor of expanding college in prison.”
Congressional Democrats' campaign organization just hired a senior-level staffer who, during the riots last summer, stated that looting is "a vital form of social protest."
— Jaime Herrera Beutler (@JaimeForUSRep) February 16, 2021
Tatro has been described as the former ‘triggerman” for the OGK street gang, serving time in prison for shooting “two rival gang members” in 2006, according to the New York Post. He was also convicted in 2011, serving six years for racketeering conspiracy.
The Post reported that Tatro “confessed to the shootings, and to a ‘razor slashing’ of another victim in 2002 as well as to dealing drugs.” He ultimately appeared in a 2019 documentary series titled College Behind Bars, where inmates earn college degrees through the Bard Prison Initiative.
Now-deleted social media posts show Tatro criticizing police officers in the wake of the January 6 riots, writing in one thread, “The Capitol police have a budget in excess of what it takes to police 2 major cities (ATL & Detroit) and yet they couldn’t secure 2 sq. miles. THIS IS NOT A RESOURCE PROBLEM, it’s a race problem, a power problem, an ideological problem.”
“From 2000 to 2021, the Capitol police budget board from $115 to $500 million. If anything, Wednesday’s events are an argument to #DefundThePolice,” he said. “More & more money to the Capitol police, over 20 yrs, didn’t prevent a mob from taking the Capitol.”
“The answer to white supremacists storming the Capitol is not to give more money to a different group of white supremacists who’s [sic] job it is to uphold white supremacy,” he concluded in the January 8 thread.
Additionally, Tatro also appeared to defend looting as a legitimate form of “social protest” as Black Lives Matter riots dominated several major U.S. cities last year in the wake of George Floyd’s death.
“I don’t understand why you can’t CONDEMN VIOLENT POLICE & acknowledge LOOTING as a VITAL form of social PROTEST,” he wrote in part:
I'm sure you want to seem smart & reasonable, but, as a BLACK MAN, I'm here to inform you that you sound insensitive & tone deaf. In the least, you could have called for those cops to be prosecuted. This is not a reform moment. You are not being helpful.
— Dyjuan Tatro (@DyjuanTatro) August 27, 2020
Breitbart News reported, Tatro appeared to have longstanding social connections with DCCC chairman Sean Patrick Maloney, previously working for his campaign and attending Christmas parties at the home of Maloney and Randy Florke — Maloney’s husband.
Social media activity also showed Maloney “liking” a shirtless picture of Tatro, which the ex-gang member posted in March 2019. The post included the hashtags “saturdayvibes,” “mood,” and “handsome.” The original post has since been deleted.
The DCCC, however, has continued to defend its latest hire.
“We are building a team that knows what it takes to run and win tough campaigns, and today’s additions to our organization will be critical assets, as well as leaders at the DCCC,” Maloney said in the original announcement, adding that he is “thrilled” to welcome the “seasoned operatives on board.”
