A Rochester, New York dentist accused of throwing a racist Juneteenth party last July has filed a defamation lawsuit after facing public backlash for the shindig—which allegedly featured Juneteenth flags hung over buckets of fried chicken and photos of Democratic politicians attached to stakes in their yard—and was attended by a Black firefighter at his captain’s command. In the suit, Nicholas Nicosia denied that the party was racist, claiming that the mere presence of Juneteenth flags and fried chicken wasn’t “mocking” Black culture. “Apparently, it is [the defendant’s] belief that fried chicken is per se racist, which would make every Kentucky Fried Chicken and Popeyes in the United States ‘racist,’” the suit said. Nicosia specifically targeted the firefighter’s lawyer and Monroe County Legislator Rachel Barnhart—who was allegedly mocked at the party—for concocting what he called a “hate crime hoax” that destroyed his practice and his family’s life. Nicosia alleged that the public backlash even led to an anonymous letter being sent to his office telling him to kill himself.