By David Fortier 

A local group pressing the mayor and city council for a stronger response to the recent dispersal of white supremacist literature in the city shared their disappointment with the mayor and by extension the council, when the mayor refused to bring a proclamation up for review and a vote. 

Camelia Lopez and Adam Antar, group leaders, addressed the mayor and council at different times. Lopez shared her frustration with the mayor’s decision to make a personal statement rather than support the proclamation. 

They were among 10 speakers during a 50-minute-long public participation session at last night’s council meeting at the Bristol Board of Education auditorium, the temporary venue for the council meeting while city hall is renovated. 

“First of all, I am not a member of a fringe group,” Lopez said in her introductory statement. “I am a citizen that is a resident here in Bristol and is speaking up for other citizens that are living here in Bristol that are upset and that want you to stand with us and make a statement, not sit there and say, “Well, we are not going to take sides.’” 

She recounted several meetings since asking for the mayor to take a stronger stance since the leaflets were dropped in June. She left the last meeting with assurances from the mayor that the proclamation Lopez and Antar drafted would be on the agenda. 

To be fair to the mayor, he did say during the meeting that he would have to pass it by corporation counsel, but his personal statement at the beginning of the meeting does not mention the counsel in his decision. 

Fighting racism, Lopez said, requires a proactive stance before it spreads further. If anyone has to fear being different, fear that they are going to be targeted or that they that are not worthy of protection, then that is a problem. 

“You could have had amazing great publicity, saying, ‘Look at this, we were with them from the beginning,’ but instead you want to act like we are the bad guys,” Lopez added. 

In his statements, interspersed between speakers, Caggiano said that he was not even aware of the name of the white supremacist group that dropped the leaflets until Lopez and Antar raised the issue.  

In his testimony, Antar said that for every person coming out to the meeting on this evening in July in support of the city taking a stronger position against white supremacism, there were many others in the community at home who feel the same.  

Antar, reiterating what Lopez already stated, said that the two had acted in good faith over a month of meetings with the mayor.  

“You gave us empty words,” he said.  

“Mr. Mayor and council members we came to you as our elected representatives with legitimate concerns around the rising tide of violence and hate. Our demands were simple and peaceful yet you chose to treat us as political opponents rather than as concerned residents seeking concern and security.” 

He said that if the mayor and council were not going to do anything about it, that they should resign. 

At this point in the meeting, Antar and most of the group left shouting slogans, including “Black Lives Matter” and “Shame, Shame, Shame.”

(Of note, one speaker did use curse words, and several chants included them.)

The mayor responded by saying he hoped he would see them at a city-wide community conversation in August. 

The council meeting was initially stalled when a cameraman working the Nutmeg TV cameras on the live stream passed out and emergency personal responded. The cameraman recovered, but the live stream never made it to its audience. The meeting was recorded and will appear later in the month. 

During the emergency, members of the local group gathered in the parking lot waiting for the meeting to resume. Before they returned to the auditorium, however, Mayor Jeffrey Caggiano had already called the meeting to order and read a statement of his own. 

The statement, in effect, encourages people to participate in an upcoming city-wide discussion in August to share their concerns. 

The statement ends, “I will ask that everyone whether you agree or disagree with anything I have said that you come and voice your own truth on Aug. 3rd at 5:30 p.m. at the Amphitheatre at Rockwell Park.” 

It begins with a reference to the late Mayor Art Ward, the parable of the Good Samaritan, and his own inauguration when he quoted the Zac Brown song, “Homegrown,” which he connected to Bristol being a big, small town then and now, filled with good neighbors. 

He said that he is proud to lead “a strong and diverse community in which racism, hatred and bigotry have no place.” 

“Bristol will not remain silent when ANY voices of intolerance speak, and as Mayor, I will not actively promote one group over another,” he said. 

Here is the mayor’s statement: p.1, p.2, p.3.

 Upon their return to the meeting, the group of 30 or so, wearing black clothing, some with BLK letters for Black Lives Matter, and yellow bandanas, congregated along one side of the auditorium. They caught the last words of the mayor’s opening remarks. 

After the minutes from the last meeting were voted on and approved, the public participation portion of the meeting began. Two speakers did not address the racism issue—the first and third, one involved public recognition of Bristol’s Director of Public Works and another addressing speeding on her street. 

Lopez was the second person to speak. 

Among the speakers, all from Bristol, were several members of the group seeking a stronger statement from the mayor, two were members of the Diversity Council, another a state representative, one a current Board of Education member and three, members of the local chapter of the NAACP. 

Zachary Chamberland, resident and member of the group, during his statements, read the entire white supremacist leaflet and shared information gleaned from the white supremacists’  video channel.  

“These flyers are not just speech, they are declarations of intent. They are threats, threats to everyone who does not fit their interpretation of an ideal person,” he said.  

“We aren’t asking you to censor them. We are asking you to help protect us from them. This group has made it explicitly clear, both in their own words and in the context of their organization. They are training and recruiting so that they can take action against the enemies of their people, which is us.” 

“And this body can’t even be bothered to vote,” he said, “or I guess now publicly condemn them. What are we supposed to think?” 

NAACP vice president Tim Camerl said the local chapter has developed good relationships with the mayor‘s office, the police department, and the schools.  

“I think that when we start to get radical ideas, pushing radical concepts, what we are doing right now, is supporting the group that we are complaining about.”  

NAACP president Eric Clemons, speaking after Camerl, said, “We are ready at the NAACP, as Mr. Camerl said, to stand with our entire community, this governmental body including everybody in this room, police, fire, against anyone who moves to divide our community with any type of racist, white supremist or any other supremist rhetoric.” 

On a personal note, he did say things were pretty crazy out in the world, and you needed to have your head on a swivel to pay attention. There was no way to legislate against this type of thing, but everyone might stand to be vigilant. 

“We can be an be ready to stand with this community, even those of us who may be a little more emotional and critical than others and fight against this kind of thing together,” he said.  

Deb Dorsey, a member of the NAACP speaking privately, shared her experiences as a Black woman, having been called the “N” word and getting pulled over for being Black. 

“Those things are nerve racking to a Black person,” she said.  

“I can’t hide my color and I wouldn’t want to. But I want people to understand that there is a problem and since the last presidency it’s risen. People aren’t afraid any more to show their discrimination, how they feel about other races. They are not afraid.””

“A friend of mine asked me do I feel safe in Bristol. The majority of the time I do. But the time I was confronted by these young Caucasian kids and called the ‘N ‘word. That does something to you.” 

Two members of the Diversity Council spoke, Jeff Israel and Jaymie Bianca. Bianca is the new chair of that group and encouraged people to get involved. 

Israel, a second-generation Holocaust survivor, said the terror never goes away, but people can lift their voices against it. 

“I just ask all of you, what you heard here tonight, whether you agreed or not agreed, understand that people are hurting, they really are, and unless you have lived through it, you might not know.” 

He did recount how he got involved with the Diversity Council after an incident that occurred at Northeast School five years ago, when a Muslim was scheduled to speak and was canceled because parents objected. 

“You can’t look at the group that was in here earlier tonight and not have compassion for what they stood for,” he said.  

Former Councilwoman Brittany Barney spoke virtually addressing the council, whom she said she could relate to. At the same time, she cautioned that they have a job to do. 

“It is your job to represent every citizen, not just the ones you agree with. And to not at least entertain a motion about the resolution, I think was bad governence,” she said. 

“When you look at the track record, you are picking winners and losers,” she added. “This group is simply looking for a declaration against racism and neo-nazi ideas. You instead pushed it back on them. That’s not good governance.” 

Board of Education member Karen Vibert encouraged the mayor to level with the group. 

“I know you, Jeff,” she said. “I know you are not a racist. I think it would be quite simple if you just tell them that you are not. A lot of these people were not in the room when you started the meeting again. Just say the City of Bristol denounces racism. That is all they are asking for. They deserve it.” 

Whit Betts was the final public speaker. He said he was speaking as a citizen and not as a state representative. He shared his experiences getting to know the people at NAACP, called out members of the group who used curse words and encouraged building relationships. 

For the original TBE story with the proclamation, click here. 

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