D’Arrigo says she was targeted by group

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He also said he never made any claims that D’Arrigo is a pedophile and involved in child sex trafficking.

D’Arrigo said she went to the police to file a report about the online harassment as she was nervous about the potential for inciting violence against her and her family.

“It’s one thing when you’re commenting on a national story, it’s quite another when someone is bringing this to your town and is a neighbor,” D’Arrigo said.

Keiserman said the Port Washington Democratic Club has supported D’Arrigo in the wake of the events and applaud her and her husband for speaking out against the alleged harassment.

Upon filing the police report, D’Arrigo said the police department asked Shurka to remove her name from his social media post. Shurka confirmed the police did ask him to do so, but that it was a request and not a demand.

Shurka said he is not upset with the community members in Port Washington who were in opposition to the event.

“As a matter of fact I totally understand where they are coming from because they don’t know better,” Shurka said. “Because they read something on CNN, they read something on the media that showed them something, and they believed it because that’s what they were taught to do.”

Shurka said in response to the event and the controversy, Rays of Light has doubled in size, their Instagram following quadrupled and more new customers have come to the center.

“Because inadvertently by trying to shut us down, they made us bigger than we’ve ever been,” Shurka said. “And that’s a lesson in and of itself. They call it what you resist persists. We never resisted them, they resisted us and in turn, they helped us.”

Shurka said the event, viewed by 15,000 people via live stream, was filled with unity and love.

He said many community members silently praised him and his event, but are not speaking out loud. He said this included politicians, authorities and residents, but would not provide names.

D’Arrigo said she is an outspoken advocate against hate and injustice so she wasn’t pleased to hear that McKay would be speaking at a local event.

She said she found this event upsetting along with fellow community members. She said people were taking down their pride flags and signs out of fear of also being targeted.

D’Arrigo said that while every town has the need to expand upon its inclusivity, she said Port Washington is a community that has an emphasis on fostering inclusivity and safety for all individuals.

“So it was pretty shocking to see someone with so much well-documented hate be invited,” D’Arrigo said.

D’Arrigo said that she hopes there is more thought into the types of events brought to this town and reflect the interests of the community.

“Hate has no home here, so if it has no home here then let’s make sure that is true in all facets,” D’Arrigo said.