Brandon Williams Threatened Former Staffer
Unhinged Brandon Williams Explodes with Threats & Profanity
We've seen Brandon Williams' arrogance, fragile ego, and "people skills deficit" at town halls in the past year, but now millions of Americans, including many NY22 voters, have had a glimpse of his true personality and near-violent behavior as well. If you haven't seen the video, take a look. Here's the context:
At a holiday party thrown by a lobbying firm in DC, Williams made a beeline across the room in order to verbally attack and threaten a former staffer who maintains that he resigned because of Williams' tirades and abuse. The video ends abruptly when Williams smacks the phone from another former staffer's hand.
Luke Radel, who has reported on NY22 congressional races for several cycles was sent the video and broke the story. On Tuesday, The Daily Sentinel also reported on the incident and published the written statements from Sarah Klee Hood, John Mannion, and Clemmie Harris. Make sure you talk with friends, family, and co-workers about William's behavior and your perspective on it. He's starting to crack under the pressure and scrutiny he faces as an elective official with no experience representing anyone but himself. He's clearly become caught up in the violent MAGA extremism that dominates his party.
We need to keep the spotlight on him--his behavior, his arrogance and disregard in relation to constituents, his terrible votes and policy positions, and his enabling association with MAGA extremists and others who view themselves as above the law.
As you know, one of the main tasks that IMV and our NY22 progressive group compatriots have in 2023 and 2024, is weakening Brandon Williams as part of a national effort called "The Unrepresentative 18." There are 18 Members of Congress (MoCs) who represent districts that voted for President Biden in 2020 but ended up electing Republicans to the House.
Sarah Reeske will be leading the Unrepresentative national calls in 2024, and we encourage everyone to show up for those so we all understand the strategies and tactics we'll be using to call out Brandon Williams' failure in Congress to the voters and the media. You can see the slide deck for the most recent call HERE. We'll keep you posted on the date and registration information for the first "Unrepresentative" call in 2024.
IMV's December 17th Meeting at the Energy Zone
Please join IMV at our December meeting, Sunday, December 17th, 2:00-3:30 pm. Sunday, Dec. 17th, 2:00-3:30, NY Energy Zone, 35 Utica Zoo Way, Utica. We’re meeting in this beautiful, free conference room space for the first time. It’s up the hill off the Parkway, on the right, before you get to the Utica Zoo parking lot. There is plenty of parking in the lot at the building. We’ll be talking about what we want to do for a Jan. 6th action and discussing how we can call out #NY22’s #WeakWilliams and hold him accountable in 2024. See you there!
Want to start thinking about the action IMV could take on Jan. 6th, 2024? Check out this toolkit, and then bring your ideas to the meeting!
Climate Crisis: Two Actions for You Today
1. Call Gov. Hochul: Sign the NY Tropical Deforestation Free Procurement Act AND The Birds and Bees Protection Act
Call Governor Hochul at 518-474-8390:
"Hello, my name is _____ and I live in _______zip code ________. I urge Governor Hochul to sign into law the Birds and the Bees Protection Act, which would curb wasteful use of neurotoxic neonic pesticides that are a leading cause of mass losses of bees and other pollinators we depend on for food. They also extensively pollute New York water, putting our health at risk, especially the health of children.
I also urge Governor Hochul to sign into law the NY State Tropical Deforestation-Free Procurement Act. New York State contributes to rampant deforestation and degradation of tropical forests when state agencies buy tropical hardwoods and other products that drive deforestation. These forests are also home to Indigenous Peoples and countless species at risk of extinction. Keeping these forests standing is essential to countering the climate crisis and protecting the planet from superstorms, floods, heat waves, and more.
I strongly support the Birds and Bees Protection Act and the NY State Tropical Deforestation-Free Procurement Act. I urge Governor Hochul to please sign these bills into law today."
2. Call Comptroller DiNapoil: Fully Divest
Call DiNapoli at 866-961-4293:
Hello, my name is _____ and I live in _______zip code ________. Please fully divest the state pension from oil and gas companies, especially Exxon. You need to stand up to the fossil fuel industry and stop investing in companies that knowingly drove climate change, which threatens the future of humanity.
We're on Instagram's Threads!
You may have heard about the widespread movement to leave Twitter (now X) after it has "become increasingly hateful, decreasingly functional, and absolutely chockablock with conspiracy theories and misinformation." Indivisible is stepping back from X and moving toward other platforms. You can read Indivisible's position, published at Medium, here.
Drumrolll.....IMV now has a presence on Instagram's Threads! You can join Threads from your Instagram account or create an account so you can join. Not sure how to get started? Here are some written instructions. Here's a short video tutorial. Once you're on Threads, just search for Indivisible Mohawk Valley (and also Indivisible Guide to connect with the national organization). Thanks to Alan Cole for managing our new account!
Indivisible OneNYS Meeting Dec. 14th
Don't forget to Register and attend our important statewide call on Thursday, Dec 14th at 7-8 pm. Ezra Levin, Indivisible's co-executive director, will be joining us with a message about "why NY in 2024 and why NY in 2025." Sarah Reeske, our NYS organizer, will be doing a "lay of the land" section so collectively we can identify the organizing goals, challenges, and plans to win in 2024. We'll also talk about how we level up our state structure Indivisible OneNYS to help us accomplish our electoral goals.
We are not an island in the Mohawk Valley or in NY22. Let's see how we connect to other New Yorkers who share our values and our activism!
In Case You Missed the Indivisible National Call Last Night
Here are some highlights about the "we" of the Indivisible movement and the majority of American voters who reject MAGA extremism:
Since 2017, the media and the polls have repeatedly predicted dramatic losses for us, but in 2017 and 2018 we defended against the Trumpist attack on our health care and we even flipped Congress--(remember how hard we worked to elect Anthony Brindisi?).
In 2019 we had wins again in key states and in 2020 we helped defeat Trump and gained a historic trifecta to pass critical legislation in 2021 on climate and the economy and helped Pres. Biden prevent recession, put Americans back to work, and invest in the future.
In 2022, defeat was predicted, but with the exception of NY congressional districts and a few other races, Democrats held their own in the midterms.
In 2024, we are read to roll up our sleeves and do the work again, talking "neighbor to neighbor" with fellow voters in our communities.
Let's not be distracted by polling, demoralized by the losses we've experienced at times locally, or deterred by the MAGA threat to democracy. If we work together, we can build a broad coalition to flip NY22 and defeat Trump and his radical supporters.
If you are ready to register your basic commitment to defeat Trump and the MAGAs in 2024, click here, and get on board.
Show up.
Do the work.
Democracy is not a spectator sport.
Follow us on Twitter using @indivisiblemv and of course our Facebook page and IMV Activism Group.
And check us out on Threads: https://www.threads.net/@indivisiblemohawkvalley
