Common Council President Andrea Shaut said she will give fellow lawmakers the option to end remote public speaking after anti-Semitic trolls used the dial-in service to disrupt a meeting with obscene and hateful rhetoric. Shaut said that she was personally reluctant to end the remote speaking option, but conceded that it could be the only way to prevent a repeat of the June 4 incident which occurred before a council chamber full of speakers for and against a controversial resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

“There has to be some kind of solution because the council and the community shouldn’t have to experience what we experienced last week,” said Shaut. “Personally, I’m not a fan of ending Zoom comment, however I do not have a solution to not let what happened last week happen again.”

Every regular meeting of the Kingston Common Council begins with a 30-minute public comment period during which participants can sign up for a three-minute speaking slot. Lawmakers regularly extend the public comment period to allow for more speakers. During the pandemic all council business, including public comment, moved online via the platform Zoom. During that time, lawmakers noticed a surge in public attendance and participation as city residents dialed in to the remote meetings. When in-person meetings resumed the council opted to retain remote public comment. Under state law, bodies like the council must accept phoned-in public comment only when one or more members are participating in the meeting remotely because of exigent circumstances.

“It’s just a nice option for someone who’s home with young children or someone who had a long day at work, whatever reason, but still wants to talk to us,” said Shaut.

The trolling incident occurred during a regular meeting of the council where dozens of community members showed up to address a memorializing resolution put forth by Teryl Mickins (D-Ward 5) calling on state and federal officials to demand an immediate end to Israel’s invasion of Gaza in response to the October 7 terror attack on Israeli soil (the resolution was not on the agenda, it will be addressed at a June 20 meeting of the council’s Laws and Rules Committee). Tensions were already high in the council chambers with speakers making emotional arguments for and against the resolution when a series of speakers who dialed in to the zoom link began making anti-Semitic and Islamophobic statements. The callers invoked a series of tropes common among the Neo-Nazi movement including the 1967 attack on the U.S.S. Liberty by Israeli fighter jets, Jewish circumcision practices and the purported Talmudic justification for violence against non-Jews. In each case callers would speak for a moment before Shaut deemed the comments inappropriate and ordered City Clerk Elisa Tinti to mute them. After Shaut muted a fourth troll others waiting in the Zoom queue began unmuting themselves and shouting anti-Semitic and racist slurs and Neo-Nazi slogans. The disruption forced Shaut to call for a five-minute recess after which the council opted not to continue the public comment period. A review of Zoom call logs showed that the disruptive callers dialed in from all over the country suggesting a coordinated attack organized online. None of the calls appeared to be from local residents.

It will be up to the whole council to decide whether or not to retain remote public comment. On Monday, council Majority Leader Rennie Scott-Childress (D-Ward 3) said that he supported opening the public comment period to callers. Scott-Childress noted that all council meetings are streamed online and suggested that if community members were able to view the meeting remotely, they should be able to participate remotely as well. But Scott-Childress said he would support ending call-in comments if there was no other solution.

“I would prefer to keep it enabled if there’s a way for us to clarify that any incoming call is actually from Kingston and ensure that whoever was calling… is on the up and up,” said Scott-Childress “The issue is whether there is a feasible technical solution.”

Alderman Michael Tierney (D-Ward 2) said he favored ending remote public speaking at council meetings. Tierney helps coordinate public comments for the Ulster County Legislature as part of his job as a legislative support specialist. Tierney said the county breaks up public speaking into two phases, one for speakers who wish to address items on the agenda followed by comments on other topics. But the body does not allow phoned in remarks. Tierny added that city residents have multiple ways to make their opinions known to the council including written comments submitted online or in person at City Hall and direct outreach to lawmakers whose contact information is available on the city’s website.

“I just don’t see the need for it,” said Tierney. “You can’t see faces, you can’t tell it’s a city resident or someone halfway across the country and now it’s been hijacked by a bunch of fascist incel trolls.”