04/01/23 UPDATE: Danny Lee has lost his bid for re-election, according to preliminary results.
Troubling video has surfaced showing a Massachusetts politician slinging racial slurs and lashing out about a recall push to remove him from power.
The video shows Holbrook Select Board Chairman Danny Lee belly up to the bar, downing beer, inside a local restaurant, Golden Pacific, last year.
In the video, Lee said to the bartender, "Let me tell you something — if you don't give me a beer, I'm going to hurt you and everyone else. I'll <expletive> smash <expletive> bottles, I'll <expletive> shoot people. <inaudible> Hey, I'm kidding."
Lee is also a town employee, working for the Department of Public Works. On his political Facebook page, he says there is no greater professional honor than serving his hometown. The video shows a side of this public servant not normally on display during town meetings.
The clip shared with the NBC10 Boston Investigators was recorded on a phone apparently without Lee's knowledge. It surfaced a few weeks after Speaker of the House Ron Mariano hosted a fundraiser for Lee and just before voters will decide if he will be re-elected. It shows him slinging racial slurs targeting the Black community and people with mental health challenges.
Lee said to a man who told him he was from Ireland, "Go back to <expletive>. Where are you from? <expletive> Montello Street in Brockton."
U.S. & World
He yelled to a man working the bar who identified himself as Asian American, "Turn the music up you <expletive>."
Boston University associate professor Spencer Piston, who specializes in political behavior and politics of inequality, reviewed the entire video.
"The actions of Danny Lee himself, they're obviously despicable, hateful. At times he was threatening violence and of particular concern are the racist slurs that he's yelling in a public place as an elected official," he said.
Lee also lashed out at a man about a failed recall attempt to oust him from his position after it was discovered the selectman didn't pay thousands of dollars in rent to his elderly landlords: "You know what <expletive> you and your mother. You know what? Your mother and father signed the recall Danny Lee, you’re an <double expletive> too."
Piston said, "When someone is cursing out your mother and that person has so much power, I think it's pretty clear that this person should not be holding public office."
Holbrook Town Administrator Greg Hanley didn't respond to multiple attempts for comment.
Several Holbrook residents told the NBC10 Boston Investigators there's no room for racism in town or in politics.
The polls open at 7 a.m. Saturday for the town election.
We spoke with Lee and offered to show him the video. He said he'll hire a lawyer and hung up the phone.
Mariano told us that, while he hasn't seen the video, the reported comments are "unacceptable, disturbing and merit an immediate apology."
