New York state’s Republican gubernatorial candidate, Lee Zeldin, is being accused of airing a racist and misleading ad by misusing images of a mentally ill man who was killed by Brooklyn police officers four years ago.

On April 4, 2018, officers from the NYPD’s 71st Precinct shot and killed Saheed Vassell, 34 in Brooklyn for holding what they thought was a firearm. After shooting the man, police discovered Vassell was actually holding a metal pipe.

The commercial shows security footage of Vassell pointing the pipe as Zeldin’s voiceover warns, "On November 8, vote like your life depends on it. It just might."

New York Attorney General Letitia James’ Special Investigations and Prosecutions Unit released its report a year later, stating that no charges were “legally justified.” However there was the recommendation that officers undergo further training.

On Nov. 7, supporters and elected officials joined members of the Vassell family in Downtown Brooklyn to protest Zeldin for running the ad. Vassell's family condemned the ad and demanded that Zeldin remove it from the air. However, according to AM New York, the ad was still running with fewer than 36 hours until polls opened. Zeldin is challenging incumbent Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul.

Eric Vassell, Saheed Vassell's father, pleaded with Zeldin to remove the ad, pointing out that his son never physically harmed anyone and that framing him as an attacker is wrong. “Mr. Zeldin placed an ad showing him as a violent criminal. Doing so brought back grief and pain to my family. My wife could not be here today because she grieves so much the loss of her son,” the elder Vassell told protesters.

New York City Council Member Lincoln Restler furiously called out the Republican candidate, and called it the way he sees the situation, charging, “I want to say this as plainly as I can: Lee Zeldin is a racist. Lee Zeldin is a racist. Lee Zeldin is a racist,” Restler repeated. “I am profoundly upset; I am angry about the drama that he is forcing upon the family of Saheed Vassell.”

AM New York reported that Lee Zeldin’s campaign responded that the advertisement hasn't shown on television or social media for well over a month, this despite the paper’s findings to the contrary.