The legal battle over Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman's plan to deputize citizen gunowners has escalated as both sides prepare for their first court hearing showdown on June 19.

In a counterclaim filed earlier this month, Blakeman alleges the lawsuit initiated in February was "intended to punish, intimidate and harass" him as county executive for "publicly announcing and discussing" the program.

Court documents show Blakeman's attorneys argue the initial lawsuit — which seeks a judge's ruling on whether he created the program legally — was a politically motivated, Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation, or SLAPP, case intended to curtail his right to free speech. The Blakeman administration is asking for the Democrats' case to be dismissed and attorneys' fees paid.  

"They brought a lawsuit against me to try to get me to not speak out about issues I think are important," Blakeman told Newsday in an interview this week. "They are trying to violate — not only my rights as an individual citizen — but my rights as county executive to represent the people of Nassau County." 

Two Democratic legislators, Debra Mulé of Freeport and Scott Davis of Rockville Centre, brought the initial lawsuit Feb. 4 in state Supreme Court in Mineola. Their attorneys say Blakeman violated general municipal law by using public money and resources to create the "provisional special deputies program," and officials have illegally denied legislators' requests for details under the state’s Freedom of Information Law.

Blakeman, who has called the lawsuit filed by Mulé and Davis "frivolous and without merit," said he believes he is acting and speaking on behalf of county residents concerned about safety in creating the program. The countersuit and scheduled court hearing signal a doubling down by the Blakeman administration to defend the special deputies program he created without legislative approval in 2024. He also has introduced a second constitutional argument to the case, according to attorneys for the plaintiffs. 

Nassau's special deputies' program recruits and trains a reserve of gun-licensed Nassau residents and business owners who Blakeman would call to duty "for the protection of human life and property during an emergency." The program was not publicly announced and first reported in Newsday in March 2024 after the Blakeman administration advertised a call for volunteers. 

Retired law enforcement and military veterans who are between the ages of 21 and 72 would be eligible. In a 2024 media availability to discuss the program, Blakeman said about 75 Nassau residents and business owners had applied. The position would come with a daily stipend of $150.

"I didn't create anything other than a list of qualified people who were vetted and trained," Blakeman said, noting other counties have similar programs.

Carey Dunne, attorney for Mulé and Davis, said in filing the SLAPP countersuit Blakeman has used "a new constitutional dimension that is of national significance" and a rare legal position for a lawmaker or anyone with power to make.

"You can’t have political actors in this country allowed to sue private citizens for exercising their constitutional rights — at bottom that’s what’s Blakeman is trying to do," said Dunne, referring to Mulé and Davis who filed the initial suit as taxpayers and residents even though they are legislators. 

"The initial impetus for filing the lawsuit was to discourage government from creating a private militia. Now there are two dimensions to this case. If that were to take hold that would be a serious setback for civil liberties," said Dunne, a former prosecutor in the Manhattan district attorney's office who is best known for leading a criminal investigation against President Donald Trump. 

The first class of 25 special deputies graduated in December 2024, Newsday reported. Blakeman spokesman Chris Boyle did not answer Newsday's questions this week on whether recruitment and training was ongoing or whether more had graduated.