A New York woman who ran for the State Assembly and lost is accusing the incumbent and her Republican opponent of colluding with a lawyer to create a fake social media account to discredit her and sabotage her campaign.
Janine Materna says the Facebook page, which uses her identity, not only cost her the race but led to her getting death threats.
“It’s cyber harassment. It’s absolutely disgusting. It’s more than bullying. My life was threatened,” Materna told News 4.
Materna ran as a Republican for a State Assembly seat on the south shore of Staten Island last year. She lost her race to Assemblyman Ron Castorina and now says part of the reason is the fake Facebook account created in her name.
The Staten Island District Attorney’s Office has assigned an independent special prosecutor to see if Castorina had any knowledge that his friend, attorney Richard Luthmann, made those pages and posted new images this week, some depicting animated characters with guns pointed and referencing Materna.
“If there are cartoon ray guns and Elmer Fudd that are threatening images, it just goes to show that she doesn’t have the temperament needed for public office,” Luthmann told News 4 by phone.
Assemblyman Castorina also responded to the allegations on Thursday.
“I’ll let that all play out,” Castorina told News 4. “You can make your own decisions. But, frankly, this is between him and her.”
Materna also filed a police report with the NYPD this week.
Both the Staten Island District Attorney’s Office and the independent prosecutor declined comment.
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