Hamptons art dealer Ruth Vered was dragged out of fancy Sag Harbor eatery Tutto il Giorno and arrested last week after allegedly making offensive remarks following a screening of a documentary on the Shinnecock Indian Nation.
“Conscience Point” follows tensions between the tribe and wealthy, newer Hamptonites over land ownership and displacement. Vered, 80, who was caught on video being cuffed, insists she was exercising freedom of speech with questions such as “Why are the Indians still claim[ing] to be victims of the past when they are some of the most privileged people when it comes to benefits?”
She told us of the incident that she was not inebriated, and “I’m not against Indians or their problems … But move on. I’m against victimhood. That’s what I said: ‘Get a life’ . . . I don’t apologize for what I said, but maybe the way I said it … I don’t know how to say it in a lovely way. I am not a politician.”
She was charged with trespassing and harassment, and allegedly kicked a cop. “You didn’t like what I asked? Too bad,” she said.
She has previously been caught up in a controversy over a famed sculpture on her property that Sag Harbor said violated zoning policies.