Long Island town holds Save the Chiefs rally in defiance of state ban on mascot

It’s the most important pep rally on Long Island.The town of Massapequa is pulling out all the stops to preserve its Chiefs team nickname — with the backing of President Trump and Secretary of Education Linda McMahon — including holding a festival Saturday at the high school’s parking lot to fundraise for a homegrown legal battle against the state and its 2023 ban on Native American team names and logos.“The kids identify with the Chiefs — we all do as a community,” proud Massapequa mom Tara Tarasi, who started a foundation to finance the years-long court fight and sells “Save the Chiefs” shirts, told The Post.“This whole town, street names, everywhere you go, is related to something Native American,” added Tarasi, whose four boys are proud to have worn the logo.The demonstration — drivers passed by honking loudly in support — comes on the heels of McMahon’s recent visit to Massapequa High School, where she warned the state to drop the ban or face the wrath of the Justice Department.“That’s how serious we are about it,” she said in the school gym.“You’ve got the Huguenots, we’ve got the Highlanders, we’ve got the Scotsman.

Why is that not considered in any way racist?”After McMahon’s commentary and Massapequa’s amended lawsuit, which called the state’s actions discriminatory for applying solely to Native Americans, New York threatened Thursday to broaden its ban to all different ethnic team names the department finds offensive, such as the nearby Seaford Vikings, prospectively.“That’s their workaround … we’ve demonstrated that this regulation was not a good idea,” Massapequa School Board President Kerry Wachter told The Post at the rally.In Massapequa, a forced rebranding would run the district about $1 million, Wachter claimed.“Now you’re wanting to put another unfunded mandate on top of all these districts who are just barely making it, just to not give Massapequa the win?”The issue hit home for Do...