MAHOPAC, N.Y. —Members of a group called Fight Lawler are demanding an ethics probe after accusing Putnam County Legislator Erin Crowley of using a fake name to infiltrate a Signal chat in the run-up to and during a local town hall forum conducted by Congressman Mike Lawler.
Crowley, whose legislative district includes parts of Mahopac, is Lawler’s representative in the area, and often meets with constituents on his behalf.
Members of the Fight Lawler group and other opponents of the congressman staged a demonstration outside the Carmel Town Hall, on Thursday, July 17, calling for Crowley’s resignation and demanding an investigation into her actions.
The group alleges that a mobile number associated with Crowley, was used to create a Signal profile under the pseudonym “Jake Thomas.” The group said “Thomas” joined both Fight Lawler’s Facebook and Signal groups in the spring. Messages alleged that Thomas tried to incite members of the group to act in a way that would get them kicked out of the town hall forum.
While the organization is calling for Crowley’s ouster, it remains unclear what, if anything, county officials would be able to do about it were the allegations against Crowley proven to be true.
A series of town halls held by Lawler – including one on May 4 at Kennedy Catholic Preparatory School in Somers, and another at Mahopac High School on June 8 – have drawn loud and often hostile crowds.
According to Signal messages obtained by Halston Media, someone using the handle Jake Thomas messaged the anti-Lawler Signal Group at 6:38 p.m. on May 4 saying, “We should boo him off the stage.”
As previously reported by Halston Media, the Somers town hall meeting – which followed a raucous previous town hall meeting in Rockland County – had tight security, with both state police and Lawler's security team eyeing the crowd.
At the Somers event, a woman was carried out by New York State Police after repeatedly asking Lawler to answer her question.
Then at 7 p.m., during that meeting, Thomas wrote, “We should try and bring glue next time. See if they can take us out of the seats then.”
While Jake Thomas appeared as the owner of the cell number seen by organizers of the anti-Lawler group, it connected to a more familiar name to Putnam County Democratic Committee chair Jen Colamonico.
Colamonico told others in the group that she had Crowley’s contact info saved in her phone—and the messages appearing on Fight Lawler co-founder Ann Starer’s phone under the name Jake Thomas were showing up on Colamonico’s phone as being from Crowley.
Maureen Morrissey, a Fight Lawler cofounder from Mount Kisco, told Halston Media that the group used Signal, an encrypted messaging app known for secure communication, because it believed the group's previous planning was being leaked to Lawler.
With Lalwer's Putnam County congressional office situated at Carmel Town Hall, members of the Fight Lawler group gathered in Mahopac on July 17 before heading to Carmel Hamlet for three Putnam County Legislature committee meetings to urge county legislators to investigate how Crowley’s name appeared in the Signal group. They said they sat for three hours waiting for their chance to speak.
After the meetings Morrissey said that residents of Putnam County’s District 9, which Crowley represents, believed they would have an opportunity to read prepared statements during public comments, but didn't get to do so. Morrissey said the group tried to speak during the televised portion of the meeting, and while they were initially met with understanding, the Legislature “kept shutting it down.”
However, she noted that after the meeting adjourned, the legislators remained to hear what the group had to say.
“Our people got up to speak and they did the best they could to make their points,” she said. “But they kept shutting it down by saying, there’s nothing this board can do about this.”
In a video shared with Halston Media, Oliver Goldstein—campaign manager for Crowley's opponent in November's general election, Democrat Lenny Harrington—asked if the County Legislature would investigate. Crowley was present and can be seen on camera. She made no comment in the video seen by Halston Media.
The lawmakers told Goldstein to take the matter up with the Putnam County Board of Ethics as the County Legislature did not have a purview over the matter. A call to the ethics board had yet to be returned by press time.
Neither Crowley nor Lawler has made public comments about Jake Thomas. Crowley has not responded to repeated text and phone messages asking for her side of the story.
Morrissey said she has made several attempts to meet with Lawler and speak with him one-on-one about various issues. When asked by Halston Media whether she had brought up the specific accusations involving Crowley, she said, “The office ghosts every attempt,” including outreach by email, phone and through the website.
According to Morrissey, the group tried to verify the identity of Jake Thomas after the Somers town hall, but were unsuccessful. The attempts included text exchanges, voice calls, and and multiple requests to meet for coffee or join a Zoom call. In their messages, organizers said they would allow Thomas back into the group if he could prove his identity.
"If you are not Erin Crowley posing as Jake Thomas, please demonstrate who you are,” one message read. “If you do not want to demonstrate that you are Jake Thomas and not Erin Crowley, then I guess the documentation that we have will speak for itself.”
Though the protest at Town Hall included no speeches or chants, attendees peacefully chattered among themselves and held signs demanding an investigation and Crowley’s resignation.
Protester and Yorktown Heights resident Jennie Sunshine’s sign said, “Erin put people in danger” by encouraging acts that could draw a physical response from security.
“We are supposed to use our free speech in a way that is nonviolent,” Sunshine said. “We want peace. We don't want to hurt anybody. We just want to hold our sign, and we want to use our voice, because that's our First Amendment right, and we expect nothing less from all parties.
“The thing is, I think by her doing what she did, by what Erin Crowley did, it’s very unsafe,” she added.
Morrissey echoed those sentiments.
“We’re here to exercise our rights, to protest against things that we think are doing wrong to the people of our country,” she said.
Morrissey noted that the group is “looking specifically for what Erin Crowley did to our Signal.”
“We are checking the legality of it,” she said. “Barring that, we’re definitely going to go after the ethical and moral issues of infiltrating a group that opposes your candidate.”
Several attempts were made to reach Crowley for comment, and none were returned by press time.
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