Yorktown GOP to hold proposed bipartisan vigil alone

What started as a coming together of local Republicans and Democrats over plans to hold a bipartisan vigil against political violence has become a one-party affair after the two sides could not agree on the speaker lineup. Rather than acquiesce to the Democrats’ stipulation that no politicians speak, the Yorktown GOP has decided to go it alone and will now hold the Candlelight Vigil for Charlie Kirk & All Victims of Political Violence without Democratic sponsorship.

Democrats, however, are still invited to the event on Sunday, Sept. 21, at 7:30 p.m. at the Jack DeVito Veterans' Memorial Gazebo. 

Yorktown Republican co-chair Kevin Byrnes said “we are honoring all victims of political violence, regardless of party, and stand against those committing the violence, regardless of their political views.”

He added that his committee is “just as disgusted at the murder of former Minnesota Speaker of the House Melissa Hortman as we are at the very public assassination of Charlie Kirk. I think it’s more important that we stand against this violence than worry that some may think we are doing this for political partisan reasons.”

On Tuesday, Byrnes and Yorktown Democratic co-chair Peter Cleary stood side by side and addressed the Town Board to condemn violence. They emphasized that while there are differences in policy issues, both committees believe political violence “must stop.” 

Their appearance at Town Hall came from an invitation from Byrnes to Cleary earlier Tuesday, after he reached out to see what could be done locally to “tone down the rhetoric.”

The original plan called for both parties to cosponsor the event, but the committees were unable to agree on the terms of how the vigil should run. The main point of contention was whether elected officials should speak, or if the event should limited to faith and community leaders, with Republicans pushing for the former.

In a statement from the Yorktown Democratic Committee announcing its decision not to cohost the vigil, Cleary said that the Republican committee "insisted that local politicians—some running now for reelection—be featured speakers at the event. During an election season, politicians are too likely to turn public events into point-scoring. Local faith leaders would have been a far better choice to help our community heal from national political violence."

The disagreement over speakers began at the Town Board meeting with both men at the podium. Byrnes said both elected officials and local clergy should be given an opportunity to speak, while Cleary argued that only local religious leaders speak because “politicians got us largely into this problem,” and “they should not have a seat at this table.”  

Byrnes told Yorktown News on Friday evening that from the start, he said “elected officials and clergy would be part of the process” and that it was “never an either or. It was both,” meaning that from the beginning he envisioned those people speaking at the vigil. 

In a Sept. 19 press release announcing the Yorktown Republicans’ sole sponsorship, Byrnes said, “I thought we would be able to work out a compromise about how the vigil should run.” He said he offered to have only Town Supervisor Ed Lachterman (who is currently running for reelection against Democrat Jann Mirchandani) speak, but the Democratic Committee did not agree.  

In earlier planning conversations, Byrnes told Yorktown News, he suggested Sen. Pete Harckham, a Democrat, and Republican Assemblyman Matt Slater, as well as Lachterman as possible speakers. He said other elected officials would be invited to stand on the stage behind the speakers but would not speak.  

Byrnes said he “did not want this to be a political event, just a vigil against violence,” and added that Lachterman would speak in his capacity as town supervisor. Byrnes said the intention was for both him and Cleary to speak in their capacities as co-chairs of their respective committees. He added that he would not be speaking in his capacity as a candidate for county legislator, where he’s running against incumbent Colin Smith to represent District 1.

“I am disappointed that we were unable to come to an agreement, but the vigil will go on as planned. Our committee believes that our elected officials need to be part of the conversation,” Byrnes said in the release. “Both Democrat and Republican elected officials are invited to speak along with the clergy that we are inviting. This does not change the fact that the Republicans and Democrats stand united against the violence, and the committees will continue to cordially work together at upcoming events, such as the Republican/Democrat candidate debate next month.”

Cleary said the Democratic Committee "agreed from the start that the vigil must be a nonpartisan event focused on healing the community."

However, he told Yorktown News that the committee was not asked if Mirchandani, "or anyone else, would like an opportunity to speak, even as they later demanded that politicians participate.

"At that point, it became the antithesis of what we were trying to accomplish," Cleary said.

Yet he added that some people are still likely to attend the vigil out of what he called "respect for the original spirit of the event."

Cleary believes the dispute ultimately shifted the focus away from the gathering's intended purpose.

"We see this as a missed opportunity to work together across party lines to help Yorktown heal," Cleary said. "Sadly, the Republicans did not seem to share the stated goal. People across the political spectrum are sick and tired of politics as usual and we continue in our desire to offer something different. We specifically wanted to avoid turning this into a political or campaign event."

Byrnes said that Cleary had "rejected all the compromises we offered" and that "it's not as if there was a stated goal of never having any elected officials, that was the original goal." 

He added that "I tried to do my best to make it a  non political issue, but it didn't work out."

Though the proposed joint effort did not come to fruition, Byrnes said he looks forward to finding other ways to collaborate in the future.

Like Byrnes, Cleary said in his committee’s statement that Yorktown Democrats also "remain committed to condemning political violence and turning down the heat on local and national politics.

"We stand ready to work with any organization toward these goals," he wrote.

This article was updated Friday, Sept. 19 at 6:20 p.m.