Assembly Member Brian Maher apologized Friday for promoting a false claim that veterans were kicked out of a Newburgh hotel in favor of migrants.
Maher returned to the Crossroads Hotel in the Town of Newburgh to make amends.
"I will apologize to anyone who felt they were in danger," Maher said.
Maher recently went on national TV and spoke to several news outlets, including News 12, to promote the false claim.
Maher said veterans advocate Sharon Toney Finch, of the nonprofit YIT, admitted she made the story up and that no veterans were displaced from the hotel.
"I just told her, 'Sharon, why'd you do this? Why'd you make this up?'" Maher said.
Maher said he trusted Finch when she told him about the situation and even introduced him to people she said were the displaced veterans.
The hotel manager said there was no record of Finch's nonprofit booking rooms at the hotel, and that a supposed transaction record Finch provided just was not truthful.
News 12 was also told that since Maher and others first pushed these false claims, staff and guests have constantly been receiving threats.
"I've referred this to the Orange County District Attorney and the Orange County Attorney General's Office because I have no idea what happened, why it happened, and what would motivate so many people to be part of something like this," Maher said.
The DA's office could...
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