KINGSTON, N.Y. — A staff member for U.S. Rep. Pat Ryan gave his account Sunday of what happened when protesters at a pro-Palestinian rally on Friday attempted to “forcibly enter” the congressman’s office, an event he says traumatized the two staffers on duty that afternoon.
Dan Torres, Ryan’s deputy chief of staff and district director, said the protest was advertised to start at 3:30 p.m. Friday at the Ulster County Office Building on Fair Street. He added that when he drove by the building at that time, a large crowd had gathered.
Torres said soon after when he drove by Ryan’s office at 307 Wall St., he saw a dozen or so individuals standing on the street outside. Feeling uneasy that no law enforcement was present at the time, Torres said he called Ulster County Sheriff Juan Figueroa at 3:48 p.m. and parked his car by the Hotel Kinsley on the corner.
Torres said he got calls from the two women in the office at 3:49 p.m. but he didn’t answer them because he was already entering the three-floor walkup building next to Vincenzo’s Pizzeria and Ristorante and heard a commotion inside.
He said the elevator was out of serve in the building, which has narrow hallways like a doctor’s office and houses about four or five tenants, so he ran up the stairs, reaching the top one minute later.
“When I got up to the top of the stairs I saw over a dozen protesters around the door, who have masks on, and I heard walkie-talkie noises and chanting,” he said.
Torres added that he believes the protesters may have gained access under the pretense of asking for another tenant.
Torres said he quickly noticed his co-worker physically holding the door with her body.
“I see half of her face through the cracked door and she’s terrified and in a state of distress,” he said. She’s a recent college grad who is 4 feet 11 inches with a dozen masked protesters trying to get in.
“I can’t see my other co-worker but she’s also behind the door,” Torres added. “Two of the protesters are on the door, one has their body partially in, the other had her back pushing back on the door attempting to enter the space,” he added. “Our office is tiny. It can’t handle a meeting of three people.”
Torres said he got everyone’s attention by trying to engage with the group, bringing down the tension for the moment and buying time for law enforcement to come. He added that the conversation, which lasted 20 minutes, ranged from very civil at moments to absolute yelling and chanting.
He said the protesters demanded that he bring Ryan there for them to remove themselves, while he demanded that they remove themselves from the door. Ryan did try to change his schedule for a meeting with the protest’s leaders, according to Torres.
“They made it clear they wanted to disrupt the flow of work in our office,” Torres said, adding he believes their goal was to enter and occupy the office until they could meet Ryan. “I wasn’t going to negotiate the health or safety of my staff to make a meeting request.”
Torres said when he asked the protesters about the issues at hand it only resulted in more yelling.
Other demonstrators gained access to the building’s roof and lowered banners, one with the names of some of the more than 22,000 Palestinians who have died since Hamas militants invaded Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 Israelis and taking hundreds hostage. Another banner read, “Pat Ryan: stop the genocide” and a third stated, “90 Days, 22,000 killed.”
Torres said when he realized no one was going to come, he went outside at 4:10 p.m. to summon a Kingston Police Department officer who was outside as the protest had shifted to Wall Street, where about 150 protesters chanted, sang, blocked the roadway and set up seven popup tents during the demonstration calling on the congressman to denounce Israeli “genocide” in Gaza.
Torres said when he came back in accompanied by police, he heard walkie-talkie sounds while the protesters ran out of the building. “I believe someone radioed to them,” Torres said.
After making a quick assessment and talking with law enforcement, Torres said, he concluded that leaving the building was not the safest scenario. With the front door now secure he sat with the two women staffing the office for an hour and a half.
“One was very physically shaken by the moment,” Torres said. “This was a very traumatizing moment for everyone involved and could’ve been violent.”
Torres said they were ultimately escorted outside the building via the roof under the advisement of police.
He said Friday’s events were a far cry from his staff’s typical day of helping constituents with issues like Social Security, veterans benefits and getting passports for honeymooners.
Torres said it is not the first time Ryan’s staff has been targeted over the conflict in Gaza. He said Ryan’s much larger Newburgh office was vandalized and someone got an inch from his face and say f— you. He also said a Jewish staffer got called a Nazi and another staffer was told by someone they’d set up a GoFundMe for them if they quit working for Ryan.
In the latest incident, according to Torres, a person at an event yelled at the 4-foot, 11-inch staffer that “she should’ve not felt unsafe.” on Saturday.
He said video clips and posts that make what happened outside Ryan’s office sound like a peaceful and normal situation are not true. He said he filed a police report after the incident, but he could not speculate on if police planned to charge anyone involved.
Police could not be immediately reached for comment in regards to Friday’s incident.
In a Freeman interview on Saturday, Ryan said he has “tremendous respect for people peacefully protesting,” but it was “very concerning to see his staff threatened.”
“The vast majority of people at Friday’s event were peacefully protesting,” he said. “Unfortunately about 20 individuals decided to enter the building and forcefully open the door.”
He said Friday’s incident is part of a concerning trend of people resorting to political violence.
“When you don’t get the exact outcome you want it shouldn’t be acceptable to resort to physical force,” Ryan said.
Ryan said he has met with the organizers of Friday’s protest before and he will continue to meet with them and listen in good faith.
“We’ve had that ongoing discussion and engagement with empathy and constructive dialogue,” Ryan said. “That’s informed my views and plan for peace I’ve put forward.”
