Malta official’s siege photo leads to resignation demand
Town GOP says Zoning Board member Pineo expected to step down
A Malta Town Board member is calling for the resignation of a Zoning Board member after photos showing her in the midst of the U.S. Capitol siege have been circulating online.
Malta Town Board member Timothy Dunn, a Republican, told the Times Union he spoke with the town’s GOP chairman after photos were shared on social media sites by Saratoga County Democrats over the weekend. One image shows a woman being led off the Capitol grounds by police with her hands behind her back.
A GOP official in Saratoga County confirmed the pictures are of Sharon Pineo of Round Lake, a member of the Malta Zoning Board of Appeals. The dispute in the GOP has been if Pineo was arrested or just escorted off Capitol grounds; there is no evidence the Times Union has found that she has been criminally charged in connection with the siege.
The Times Union has called multiple phone numbers listed for Pineo, as well as sent her an email, with no success.
Later Sunday night, after the Times Union published the story online, the Malta GOP Committee provided a statement that Pineo would be calling the town supervisor in the next 24 hours to resign from the Zoning Board.
Pineo helped organize a charter bus trip that took Capital Region residents to Wednesday’s “March on Congress,” which eventually devolved into a violent criminal raid on the U.S.
Capitol while Congress was meeting to certify the 2020 Electoral College vote. Pineo’s bus was one of several that made the trip from the Capital Region to Washington, former GOP congressional candidate Liz Joy told the Times Union.
Hundreds carrying flags in support of President Donald J. Trump stormed the Capitol, with some forcing their way past police in riot gear, as well as breaking doors and windows. Rioters were pictured with confederate flags inside the Capitol building, and gallows were constructed nearby with a hanging noose. A pipe bomb was found at the Republican party headquarters and another suspicious package at the Democratic counterpart. Five people have died in connection with the siege, including a rioter who was shot and a Capitol police officer who was struck in the head with a heavy object; another Capitol police officer who responded to the incursion took his own life on Saturday.
Ted Willette, the Malta GOP chairman, could not be reached for comment. Multiple calls to Saratoga County GOP chairman Carl Zeilman had not been returned this past weekend.
Malta Supervisor Darren O’connor said earlier Sunday he had received texts with photos alleging the woman is Pineo. He said in a message to the Times Union Sunday that “I don’t have confirmation (it’s her), and I still lack enough info to commit to a particular course of action.”
A different photo taken by the Associated Press shows a woman being lifted up by Capitol police amongst the rioting, the same woman who seen in the other photo being taken away by police.
“While my understanding is that this individual has not been charged with a crime, the actions and intentions of the group that stormed the Capitol are reprehensible and not consistent with the values of our community,” Dunn wrote in a Facebook post Sunday afternoon.
“I pray our community and our nation can start seeking paths to unity, not division. And for all of our sake, I hope this happens quickly,” Dunn wrote.
A Dec. 22 Facebook post to the Upstate Conservative Coalition provides Pineo’s email address for people to contact her to sign up for the bus trip to Washington. On Dec. 26, the same Facebook account that posted about the bus trip uploaded a photoshopped image of Donald Trump in despair in the arms of Jesus Christ. The profile picture on the account also shows a winged figure holding a sword with the statement,
“Not all angels play the harp and sing, some are called to battle.”
Pineo has been involved in politics in her village as well, having run for Round Lake trustee in 2018.
Malta Town Board member Cynthia Young, the lone Democrat on the board, said Sunday the photos “are all anybody’s talking about today.” She said she “has no objection” to peaceful protesting, but that if Pineo participated in the siege on Capitol grounds, then the Zoning Board member should resign.
“If she was there and part of the insurgency, then I think the acts that happened down there were reprehensible,” Young said.