Kasey Charles says he was among the protesters who were standing outside Bumpy’s Polar Freeze Tuesday evening when the business’s owner, David Elmendorf, allegedly pointed a pellet gun at the crowd. Recorded by a bystander from down the street, cell phone footage appears to show a portion of the incident.

What You Need To Know


  • Bumpy's Polar Freeze owner David Elmendorf was arrested Tuesday evening for allegedly pointing a pellet gun at a group of protesters gathered outside his business
  • The group has staged several protests since the weekend in response to alleged text and Facebook messages from Elmendorf that used racial slurs
  • Elmendorf's attorney says his client denies ever sending the messages and claims he was acting in self defense when he pointed the pellet gun at the group

“It was a lot of chaos, a lot of people were running,” Charles said early Wednesday afternoon.

“I’m sitting at home and I saw the video of friends and really comrades running in fear,” said Jamaica Miles, founder of the All Of Us Community Action Group.

A day earlier during one of several protests outside the Schenectady ice cream stand, Charles says Elmendorf threatened him.

“The owner came back and threatened me, my sister and two of my other friends with shooting us in the head,” Charles said.” “He called us the N-word and he threatened to drag us behind his truck.”

Organized by All of Us Community Action Group, the protests were in response to text and Facebook messages allegedly sent by Elmendorf that used racial slurs. In one purported message, Elmendorf is accused of writing “I don’t hire black people.”

“If we allow this type of thing to happen here, we are sending a message to everyone every place else that their lives don’t matter either,” Miles said.

Shortly after Tuesday’s incident, Elmendorf was arrested by Schenectady police and charged with two misdemeanor counts of menacing. Reached by phone, his attorney James Mermigis said his client was acting in self-defense after claiming a friend had been attacked by some of the protesters.

“The pellet gun was not loaded,” Mermigis said. “His goal was to scare them so they would stop assaulting and beating up his friend.”

Mermigis says Elmendorf also claims the screen shots of the alleged racist messages are fakes.

“He categorically denies any racial comments, any racial slurs,” Mermigis said. “He has employed young people of all races, all ethnicities, of all religions, of all sexual preferences for years.”

While Mermigis fears the damage to Elmendorf’s reputation and business are irreparable, Charles says he and others will continue to protest.

“He is guilty already in the court of public opinion,” Mermigis said.

“We will be here until they are shut down completely,” Charles said.