PALISADES PARK — Recently released emails from the borough reveal that a councilman, who has been accused of making homophobic slurs against a school board member, has also been forwarding racist and sexist chain letters from his personal email account to a group of acquaintances.

Henry Ruh, a Democratic councilman and former borough police captain, did not author the letters, according to his attorney. But their contents, released after a public records request by NorthJersey.com and the USA TODAY Network New Jersey, appear out-of-step in Palisades Park, a deeply diverse community of about 21,000 nestled two miles southwest of the George Washington Bridge.

“America has become a crucible for people of all backgrounds and immigrants, and I can’t condone such behavior," said Chris Chung, a Palisades Park councilman who will become the borough's first Korean-American mayor in January. "I don't think there's a place for it in local government."

Ruh, 76, forwarded the emails between March 2016 and April 2018. He would not speak to a Network reporter following a Tuesday night council meeting, and retreated into a locked office across the hall from the Council Chambers before leaving Borough Hall through a side door. He has not returned phone calls for comment.

But on Thursday, Albert Wunsch, his attorney, said Ruh does not agree with the emails and finds their content "repugnant." Ruh was trying to "expose the mindless and banal banter that we're finding on the internet" by forwarding them, his attorney said.

"Henry Ruh has never been a person that's been afraid to address injustice or address any type of situation with regards to stereotypes," Wunsch said. "He doesn't like seeing stuff like this."

But Ruh's habit of forwarding such letters without comment infers a tacit agreement with their contents, said Brian Sheppard, a professor of law at Seton Hall University.

“It brings up questions about whether this person is judging people based on the color of their skin, their religion, or their gender,” Sheppard, who has not seen the emails, said. “It's certainly fair for us to consider this sort of practice disconcerting ... and this kind of behavior is cause for alarm.”

The email revelations bookend a tumultuous eight months for the councilman, who in May was caught on video trying to strong-arm the school board president into hiring him to supervise a team of armed security guards — including Ruh's brother, Laurence Ruh — that was formed to patrol district buildings.

The school board later canceled the program after an investigation by the Network found Ruh and the borough hired the guards — some of whom had questionable pasts — without collecting resumes, performing background checks or conducting psychological exams in accordance with the borough and state guidelines.

The Network filed a public records request seeking Ruh's emails about that security officer program, but Ruh claimed to have none.The Network sued the borough, and a judge later ruled that Ruh's emails should be made public. Included in that release were the racist and sexist letters.

Ruh has also been named in a notice of intent to sue filed in May by Robert DeVito, a former borough police officer who alleges Ruh used homophobic slurs in reference to a school board member. DeVito claims he was fired after reporting Ruh's derogatory comments to the borough administrator.

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Ruh is the second Bergen County Democrat to come under fire in the last six months over concerns about racism, sexism or homophobia. Michael Saudino, the former sheriff, was forced to step down in September after a recording surfaced of racist and homophobic comments he made during a staff meeting earlier this year.

“The Bergen County Democratic Party has zero tolerance for hate, bigotry or discrimination and condemns in the strongest possible terms anyone who perpetuates such divisive and hurtful rhetoric," Lou Stellato, chairman of the Bergen County Democratic Committee, said in a prepared statement this week. “It’s unacceptable whether it comes from our President, a local official or anyone else."

In July, the Borough Council passed a resolution condemning “all racially motivated, discriminatory or exclusionary hate speech.”

Further, the resolution stated, “those who want to spread hatred, bigotry and violence have no place in the Borough of Palisades Park."

Neither Mayor James Rotundo nor any other council member responded to numerous requests for comment on Ruh’s emails.

David Lorenzo, the borough administrator, said he had not seen the emails but "everyone deserves to have an opinion."

"If the opinion expressed by that person seems to be skewed to one direction, they are entitled to it, as is our president and vice president and every other official," Lorenzo said. "I don’t happen to agree with these people’s positions in general but that’s why we live in this great country — so everyone can express how they feel.”

Focused on Muslims

The emails Ruh forwarded often cited right-wing conspiracy theories as foundations for attacks on Muslims.

One email, which Ruh forwarded in July 2017, quoted a non-existent Supreme Court decision supposedly banning Sharia law in the United States.

“We shouldn't be teaching any religions in this country besides standard Judeo-Christianity, as our founders wanted,” read the fake decision, which the email attributed to Justice Neil Gorsuch. “And we certainly shouldn't be filling the children with lies about Islam being a 'religion of peace' when they see the carnage on the news almost every day.”

Another email, titled “MOST DISTURBING EMAIL I HAVE RECEIVED,” says the number of mosques being built in America is outpacing the number of churches or synagogues. As proof, it lists the names, addresses and phone numbers of nearly 100 Florida mosques and Islamic organizations.

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Following the list is a message alleging former President Barack Obama actively thrust Islam into public life.

“Before Obama, there was virtually no visible presence of Islam in America,” the letter reads. “All of a sudden, Islam is being taught in schools ... All of a sudden, Muslim training compounds are popping up throughout the USA ... All of a sudden, Obama fills the Federal Government with Muslims in key positions.”

The email, which Ruh forwarded in March 2016, provided no proof of its assertions.

Ruh forwarded another letter in April 2018 that was supposedly written by an anonymous Czech couple after a visit to Paris.

“Not only was the train station littered with debris, there was not a white person anywhere to be found,” read the email. “Landmarks around the tower, are teeming with hucksters from Africa, Arabia … the migrants have all but totally destroyed the beauty and previously, romantic images of Paris.”

Other emails lashed out at undocumented immigrants, referring to a fictitious man as “Jose Illegal.” Another attacked lesbians and transgender people for being “confused.”

None of the emails contain any commentary written by Ruh condemning the chain letters' content.

Racial strife isn't new in Palisades Park, the population of which is now more than half Asian and a fifth Hispanic, according to U.S. census data.

In June, outgoing Mayor Rotundo's mother went on a racist social media tirade after Chung defeated her son in a primary battle.

Rotundo quickly apologized for his mother's post, which he called “totally disgusting and inappropriate.”

Email: janoski@northjersey.com