It was nine years ago today that New York City Mayor Warren Wilhelm, Jr. (pseudonym: “Bill of Blasio”) strode to the front of TV cameras with murder on his mind.
Under the guise of celebrating Groundhog Day, he grabbed — without affirmative consent — a female groundhog named Charlotte, a brutal act that would result in Charlotte’s untimely demise days later.
Charlotte, a beloved member of the Staten Island Zoo family, drew the unlucky role of standing in for Chuck, her meteorological colleague.
Some witnesses have said Wilhelm simply dropped Charlotte, but others say he threw her. In the photographic evidence of that day, you can clearly see him smiling as poor Charlotte is about to receive lethal injuries.
After the brutal assault, Charlotte died — alone — like one of the many nursing home residents who caught COVID-19 in New York City.
That’s when the cover-up began.
We’ll never know what kind of steps the Mayor took to quash the investigation into his actions, but the Staten Island Zoo released a cowardly statement absolving him of guilt.
How curious, then, that Staten Island Zoo would go on to develop new policies to protect Chuck and future groundhogs from Wilhelm’s deadly grasp.
Hizzoner never apologized for taking Charlotte’s life in a cruel political stunt.
#NeverForget