Senators: Mask and vaccine protesters a threat to security

‘Confrontational tactics’ assailed by lawmakers

While attending a fundraiser for local Democrats at a bar last month, state Sen. Norm Needleman said he was greeted by a familiar — and angry — face.

A man, described by Needleman as his own “personal troll,” walked across the bar and began berating him with anti-vaccine and mask rhetoric, the senator from Essex said.

Needleman said the man, who had previously expressed similar views in response to the lawmaker’s social media posts, got in his face and filmed the interaction with a body camera.

“Obviously, he wanted to instigate a response from me,” said Needleman, who recently turned 70. “I’m too old to fight back.”

On Thursday, Needleman and 19 of his senate Democratic colleagues released a public letter, raising alarm over what they described as increasingly aggressive tactics by citizens protesting vaccination and mask policies, pointing to a string of recent incidents in Connecticut and other states.

Those incidents have led some public officials to increase their security details, along with prompting police to investigate menacing social media posts that reference lawmakers, the letter said.

“Today, we are issuing a call to action to all elected and appointed state and local officials to take a stand against the confrontational tactics of the anti-vaxxers, anti-maskers and COVID-19 deniers who are increasingly infecting our public meetings, our public discourse and our public life with an anger, irrationality and abuse, which we fear will soon escalate into physical assaults and violence against elected and appointed public officials,” the senators’ letter reads.

The senators pointed to several specific incidents that have played out in public, including a group of hecklers who broke up a back-toschool event with Gov. Ned Lamont last month in Cheshire, as well as a school board meeting in Haddam that was disrupted by a protester with a bullhorn shouting at board members to “come out with your hands up.”

At both events, police were called to help escort public officials to their cars. At least one witness at the event in Cheshire alleged that a protester shoved a member of Lamont’s security detail.

State police did not file a report following the Haddam incident, which they referred to as an “anti-mask rally with no criminal aspect.” Needleman called the incident “atrocious.”

“Protesters in Connecticut are angry and on the edge, and they are getting angrier. In some instances, their words and actions have been praised by certain politicians,” the senators’ letter said. “This needs to stop. It is only a matter of time until a small, angry group of individuals or one particularly disturbed person who is egged on with disinformation and partisan hubris escalates from spitting and hand gestures and screams of Nazism and criminal behavior to something much more dangerous. The time to prevent any future tragedy is now.”

The letter was penned by Needleman, Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff and Senate President Pro-Tempore Martin Looney, and signed by all but three members of the Democratic caucus.

Duff, a Democrat from Norwalk, said there are “genuine concerns” among lawmakers about the threat of violence toward elected officials. He noted that a new federal rule recently allowed members of congress to pay for body guards using campaign funds. Needleman said he wants state police to discuss beefing up security for the governor and lieutenant governor.

Representatives for Lamont and Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz each declined to comment Thursday on the size of their security details. State police also declined to offer specifics.

In a statement, Lamont spokesperson Max Reiss said of the events described in the senators’ letter, “These are bullying tactics, which will not phase the governor or the administration when it comes to taking the proper steps to keep residents safe, especially schoolchildren and education staff.”

Brian Foley, an aide to the commissioner of the state Department of Emergency Services and Management, said state police regularly consult with other law enforcement, including the State Capitol Police, to ensure the safety of public officials and lawmakers, who do not have individual security details like Lamont and Bysiewicz.

“It’s not unusual for us to be approached by lawmakers with concerns about a social media posting,” Foley said, declining to cite specific cases. “If there’s an issue it can be vetted,” to determine which agency is best equipped to handle the matter, he added.

Duff said one specific instance that came to mind was a social media post that referenced using the Second Amendment to protest the state’s policies regarding masking and vaccines.

“Somebody said my name and ‘lock and load,’” Duff said, adding that he flagged the post to the State Capitol Police.

Asked whether he believed Republican lawmakers shared his concerns, Duff said, “there’s some who do.”