Pat Ryan’s Lies Highlight the Danger of Crying Wolf
On Friday, January 5, 2024, activists calling for a ceasefire staged a rally outside the Kingston office of Congressman Pat Ryan. One of the event’s organizers from Mid-Hudson Democratic Socialists of America told the Times Union that a few hundred people attended to demand a ceasefire.
But to hear Pat Ryan tell the story, one would imagine that his Kingston Office was the site of the type of violent insurrection that occurred three years ago Saturday. His account’s careless and hyperbolic description are the epitome of crying wolf at the sight of a miniature poodle.
Attendees who described the event report they hoped to enter the office, but when doors were closed, they remained outside. Some attendees gained access to the roof of the building where they were able to hang a banner, which Ryan described as “vandalism.” Ryan further spun a tale to reporters and in a follow up statement online in which he described the office being under attack by people who attempted to “violently” gain entry, “threatening” his staff.
Those in attendance as activists share a very different account of events, one I am inclined to believe. It would seem that if anyone in or near a congressman’s office had so much as been sneezed at let alone threatened- on the eve of January 6th no less- police would have responded by making mass arrests. Attendees report a police presence but also that no arrests were made. They also report that activists were able to stay in the area outside the office for an extended period of time chanting and calling for a ceasefire.
If these are acts of “violence” that make Congressman Ryan feel fear for his life, one must wonder how long he would be able to maintain his sanity if he were in Gaza during the now 90+ day bombardment.
Congressman Ryan’s staff told the Daily Freeman that two staff were “traumatized” by activists attempts to “force entry” into his office. During a genocide being funded by the US, one can only imagine the intense trauma those working to uphold this machinery of oppression must have felt the prospect of activists interacting with a congressman.
The MidHudson news describes the event as “inflicting terror” on the congressman whose office was “under attack.” Terms that appear to be generated by his own narrative of events. A narrative that doesn’t match any number of videos and live streams of the action and accounts of activists present.
Activists report wanting a meeting with Ryan, who has evaded numerous calls and email requests over the course of months. There have been numerous other protests at this location and activists were able to enter a hallway in the building but not the congressman’s office.
But this is no different from strategies used by activists across numerous topics to interact with representatives. Particularly when elected officials are unresponsive, America has a rich history of people confronting congress people and demanding an audience to address their concerns.
To characterize verbal confrontation or passion at a protest with violence flies in the face of this tradition of dissent and creative actions used to lead to change.
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Recall that were it not for activists in ACT UP making repeated loud and disruptive appearances outside of the CDC, we would not have the treatments for HIV that currently exist. The civil disobedience actions now romanticized by liberals and conservatives alike were shocking to privileged white Americans when they took place.
The middle class would not have existed were it not for sit-down strikes during which workers occupied their plants in Michigan. And if it were not for continued pressure and sustained action- and the discomfort it creates for the status quo- child labor would never have been abolished, we would never have had the compromise that was the New Deal, and the only ones allowed to vote would be white men. Also forgotten by the white liberal status quo are the massive demonstrations and occupation of hospitals in NYC by the Young Lords and their allies led to much-needed medical reforms including the Patient’s Bill of Rights.
No one wants to be on the receiving end of direct action, and that is the point. But that is not the same as violence.
Ryan’s account of events are concerning. At a time when those courageous enough to call for an end to genocide and occupation are being targeted by employers, colleges, and law enforcement, this type of rhetoric further endangers those speaking up for Gaza. But it does something more.
Mischaracterizing a peaceful protest and conflating banners with vandalism and direct action with violence further spreads panic. This doesn’t make his community- or his constituents- any safer. It only makes people who are inclined to panic and do careless things more likely to overreact to the presence of a Keffiyeh or a Palestinian flag.
Ryan’s office has been the site of numerous ongoing protests calling for a ceasefire. What happens the next time activists arrive in Kingston to call for a ceasefire again? Will the seeds planted by the timid congressman and his staff lead to acts of vigilante violence by those who wrongfully believe that the congressman’s office is “under siege” because people chant and hold signs?
The danger in this case is not that people will not believe the conflated tale when Ryan cries wolf. The initial danger is that he will be believed.
And if he is, the only people who will be truly in danger are the organizers and activists calling for a ceasefire. Throughout the Hudson Valley and nationwide, organizations persistently calling for a ceasefire have been led by coalitions of Muslim and Jewish activists.
At a time when Islamaphobia and antisemitism are on the rise, how does it serve Ryan’s community for people to be on alert, believing they are in danger from activists who, themselves, are in a vulnerable situation for both as marginalized communities and as people speaking up against the occupation and genocide in Gaza?
The dramatic portrayal of events as described by Ryan and his staff are a disservice to the community and to those who are feeling trauma daily knowing their friends and loved ones are the targets of apartheid, bombing, and genocide.
Yet in classic American form, those in power are weaponizing fables of victimization to sway public opinion. Ryan’s response to a protest are reminiscent of the first major motion picture- Birth of a Nation. The racist film could be described as the story of the first Karen, and the romanticization of victimhood- particularly white victimhood and the victimhood of those aligned with white supremacy.
Perhaps if Mr. Ryan and his staff are not comfortable with dissent, public office may not be their forte.
