Plus get unlimited access to thousands of articles, videos and more with your free account!
Please enter a valid email address.
A high school girls basketball coach was fired after antisemitic slurs were hurled while he was coaching against a Jewish school.
Bryan Williams was coaching Roosevelt High School in Yonkers, N.Y., when a player on his team yelled “Free Palestine” toward an opponent playing for The Leffell School, an investigation found.
Advertisement
Williams, in his third year as the coach, says he’s the school’s “scapegoat” for what happened.
Brian Williams was fired for “poor management” after at least one player from his team hurled antisemitic slurs at Jewish opponents.(iStock)
“It puts me in a bad light and makes people that don’t know me think that I’m a monster, or I don’t like Jewish people or I can’t navigate in a multicultural world and that’s a lie. A total lie,” Williams told News 12 Westchester.
Williams said he was told he was let go because of “poor management skills,” but he says there wasn’t much he could do regarding the player’s actions.
Advertisement
“I had nothing to do with it. I just coach my team. I can’t control what somebody says on the court and most coaches can’t,” he said.
Yonkers interim superintendent Luis Rodriguez said “the fact that the coach was separated from employment with the Yonkers Public School District in no way even infer[s] that he was participating or that he condoned or that he acquiesced to any form of antisemitism.”
A Wilson basketball during a game between the Los Angeles Sparks and the Dallas Wings July 22, 2023, at the College Park Center in Arlington, Texas. (Michael Gonzales/NBAE via Getty Images)
The game between the two schools Thursday ended in the third quarter after Roosevelt players used antisemitic slurs toward their opponents. Some of those slurs allegedly included “I support Hamas, you f—ing Jew.”
Roosevelt players allegedly continued to have words with Leffell players during a timeout, to the point security stepped in and eventually escorted Leffell players off the court. Roosevelt voluntarily forfeited the contest.
Advertisement
WOMAN, 48, DIES AFTER ‘HANGING FROM AN IRON GATE,’ HAVING LEG ‘IMPALED’ AT PHILLY SPORTS COMPLEX BAR: REPORT
According to Leffell player Robin Bosworth, who wrote about the incident in the school newspaper for which she serves as editor-in-chief, the first half was a “somewhat hostile environment, with substantially more jabs and comments thrown at the players on our team than what I have experienced in the past.”
Williams said he does not condone such language “at all.”
A basketball hoop, net and backboard during the Desert Classic between the Florida Atlantic Owls and the Arizona Wildcats at T-Mobile Arena Dec. 23, 2023, in Las Vegas.(Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Advertisement
“Players of mine and people that know me know I don’t believe in that and never have,” Williams, a former correctional officer of nearly 30 years, said.
Bosworth said both teams lined up to shake hands at the premature end of the game.
“Despite our conflicting feelings about his practice, every member of my team acted with respect and class and lined up to shake their hands,” she wrote. “However, being forced to shake hands with and say, ‘Good game’ to people who had expressed such hatred did not sit right with me afterwards.”
Fox News’ Scott Thompson contributed to this report.
Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Press Herald sports writers nominate high school athletes from the prior week’s games.
Readers vote for their top choice and the winner will be announced in the newspapers the following Sunday all season long!
Advertisement
You are able to gift 5 more articles this month.
Anyone can access the link you share with no account required. Learn more.
Article link sent!
An error has occurred. Please try again.
Advertisement
With a The Portland Press Herald subscription, you can gift 5 articles each month.
It looks like you do not have any active subscriptions. To get one, go to the subscriptions page.
Advertisement
With a The Portland Press Herald subscription, you can gift 5 articles each month.
BOSTON (WHDH) – State public health officials have announced two confirmed cases of measles in Massachusetts this year.
The first case came from a school-aged resident who was exposed and diagnoses while out of state. This person has remained out of state during the infectious period.
The second case was diagnosed by an adult in Greater Boston. Officials say this person had recently returned from international travel with an uncertain vaccination history.
This person visited several locations. Both local and state health officials are working with the locations to identify and notify those who were potentially exposed.
Advertisement
“Our first two measles cases in 2026 demonstrate the impact that the measles outbreaks, nationally and internationally, can have here at home. Fortunately, thanks to high vaccination rates, the risk to most Massachusetts residents remains low,” said Public Health Commissioner Robbie Goldstein, MD, PhD. “Measles is the most contagious respiratory virus and can cause life-threatening illness. These cases are a reminder of the need for health care providers and local health departments to remain vigilant for cases so that appropriate public health measures can be rapidly employed to prevent spread in the state. This is also a reminder that getting vaccinated is the best way for people to protect themselves from this disease.”
(Copyright (c) 2025 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
Join our Newsletter for the latest news right to your inbox
CONCORD, N.H. – New Hampshire lawmakers have moved to reject a Republican-backed proposal to launch an impeachment inquiry into the lone Democrat on the state’s five-member Executive Council.
On Friday, a key committee of lawmakers delivered a unanimous 17-0 vote against an impeachment inquiry into Executive Councilor Karen Liot Hill of Lebanon, N.H.
The vote on House Resolution 41 followed an abbreviated public hearing, after the bill’s sponsor withdrew his support for the proposal and instead asked lawmakers on the committee to recommend killing it.
The push for Liot Hill’s impeachment was led by Representative Joe Sweeney, a Salem Republican and the deputy majority leader in the New Hampshire House.
Advertisement
At issue were several emails Liot Hill had sent from her official account to help a partisan law firm identify voters impacted by a new state law. The law tightened voter ID requirements for absentee ballots.
Get N.H. Morning Report
A weekday newsletter delivering the N.H. news you need to know right to your inbox.
Sweeney had previously called Liot Hill’s correspondence “political lawfare run out of a taxpayer-funded inbox.” In December, a review by the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office found that Liot Hill’s conduct was not illegal and did not constitute a misuse of office, clearing the complaint against her.
Reached by the Globe on Friday, Sweeney, who was not present at the public hearing, said in a statement he preferred to let voters decide whether Liot Hill should continue to serve in the upcoming November election.
Advertisement
“After reviewing the matter and hearing the discussion, I believe the appropriate course is to move forward and allow the voters and the political process to do their work,” he said.
“The purpose of filing the resolution was to ensure that the constitutional questions raised were addressed seriously and transparently,” he said, noting that he stands by the process and the decision to recommend killing the resolution.
In an interview, Liot Hill said she was pleased with the unanimous vote from the House Judiciary Committee.
“The committee vote, I think, sends the message that there was no merit to this,” she said.
The proposal now heads to the full House of Representatives, which has the power to approve the committee’s recommendation to reject it.
Advertisement
Amanda Gokee can be reached at amanda.gokee@globe.com. Follow her @amanda_gokee.
