The People Who Became What They Hate

What started as a draft for an article about the upcoming “No Kings” rally took a sharp left turn when someone sent a screenshot to the newsroom. At that point, the article went back into the drawer and this became something different — an open reply to the author of that post, because some things are too wrong, too sloppy, and too dishonest to ignore. They deserve daylight.

The screenshot was a social media post penned by one Christopher Keelty reacting to a recent article about a local official overstepping authority and costing taxpayers money through legal action.

Apparently, journalism had once again ruined someone’s afternoon.

Social media, especially in the modern era of tweet diplomacy and Truth Social governance, has become the preferred vehicle for outrage, conspiracy theories, and confidently incorrect information. People who have never run a business, never held office, never volunteer, and never write anything longer than a grocery list suddenly become constitutional scholars, media critics, and political “activists” the moment they log into Facebook.

One would normally say “only  lazy” does not use social media as a podium for nonsense. But that wouldn’t be fair to lazy people — lazy people are usually too busy watching TV, and do not equal stupid. The people writing these posts are something else entirely: people with just enough time and just enough confidence to be dangerous, but not enough information to be correct.

Warwick is home to a remarkable number of groups proclaiming themselves “The Real Warwick,” “The Best of Warwick,” “Warwick Locals,” “Warwick Moms,” “Warwick Dads,” “Warwick Patriots,” and probably soon “Warwick People Who Once Saw a Coyote.” Everyone is apparently the real Warwick, the true Warwick, the only Warwick that understands Warwick. At this point there are so many “real Warwicks” that statistically none of them are.

The latest entry into this crowded field is a group called “MAGA-free Warwick, NY.”

The name itself is an interesting starting point. Any group that begins by declaring what kind of people are not welcome is already standing on historically uncomfortable ground. Replace that phrase with almost any other group — “Jew-Free,” “Gay-Free,” “Irish-Free,” “Catholic-Free” — and suddenly it doesn’t sound like a civic organization anymore. It sounds like something from a history book we were all supposed to learn from.

But determined not to judge the book by its cover, I read the post.

And it did not disappoint. It was spectacular.

Not correct. Not informed. But spectacular.

Spectacular in the sense that it managed to become the exact opposite of everything the group claims to stand for. A group supposedly fighting misinformation spread false information. A group supposedly opposing hate engaged in personal attacks. A group supposedly defending democracy attacked the press. A group supposedly against intimidation joked about violence.

If irony were electricity, that post could have powered Warwick for a week. It takes a special level of self-awareness — or lack of it — to build an identity around opposing something and then immediately begin behaving exactly like it. At some point it stops being political activism and starts becoming performance art, just without the self-awareness or the talent.

Judge for yourself. Let’s go through the checklist.

Attacking the Media  Check

The post begins by accusing the Warwick Valley Dispatch of abusing the freedom of the press and public trust — a classic opening move. When you don’t like what a newspaper prints, the easiest response is not to argue the facts, but to attack the newspaper itself.

This strategy is not new. Politicians have used it for decades. Authoritarians have used it for centuries. When facts are inconvenient, attack the messenger. It’s faster and requires no evidence.

Spreading False Information  Check

The post then claims the Warwick Valley Dispatch is leased and operated by members of the Warwick Republican Committee.

One of the most creative accusations, it would probably come as news to the Republican Committee itself, particularly considering that two members of that same committee, Barry Cheney and Paul Ruszkiewicz, who also serve in the Orange County Legislature voted to remove the Dispatch from the county’s legal notice publication list — a move that directly cost the paper revenue and limits information to the public.

It would also come as news to Congressman Pat Ryan and State Senator James Skoufis, both Democrats, whose offices regularly submit columns and updates that are printed in the Dispatch to communicate with their constituents.

If the paper were truly operated by a political committee, publishing regular communications from opposing party elected officials would likely violate the very committee bylaws and political rules these critics seem so confident talking about. Being completely wrong and completely confident at the same time is a special skill.

Mr. Christopher Keelty’s statement is simply false. Completely made up. Not wrong, not misleading — just invented.

In journalism we call that fiction.

And it raises a simple question: was the author unaware of these facts, or were group members intentionally misled? Either way, it says far more about the author than it does about the newspaper.

Encouraging Violence  Check

The post then suggests that if someone finds the writer walking around town, they should punch her in the mouth. It is then followed by “that’s a joke,” which is the universal legal and moral escape hatch for saying something you probably shouldn’t have said in public.

For a group that claims to oppose extremism, intimidation, and hate, suggesting violence against a reporter is a bold strategy.

It’s almost impressive how quickly they became the thing they claim to oppose.

The Irony Department

After reading the post, I did what journalists do — I looked up who wrote it.

And this is where it became truly fascinating.

The author of the post was not some random internet troll. Not a fake account. Not a teenager.
 It was a “ MAGA Free Warwick” group Administrator.

The people agreeing with him and commenting supportively were not random users either.
They were the group’s moderator and administrator.

So the group supposedly saving Warwick from extremism appears to be run with the same tone, tactics, and behavior they claim to oppose.

At that point, my head started spinning. If this were a movie, the audience would say the script is unrealistic.

Rephrasing H. L. Mencken, I would put it this way:
Social media is a device for making the ignorant more ignorant and the crazy crazier.

Crying “Fake News” About Court Decisions

The post claims the newspaper made accusations without evidence.

The article they’re angry about was based on an actual court ruling written by an actual judge in an actual courtroom and can be viewed at wvdispatch.com (“ Warwick Valley Dispatch:Town Supervisor Charged; Similar Oversight Issues Seen Locally” March 2026).

Calling a court decision fake news is a bold strategy. The next step is probably accusing gravity of political bias.

The Only Part That Should Actually Worry People

The truly concerning part is not that someone wrote an angry Facebook post. People write angry Facebook posts about bagels being too expensive. They write stupid things on Facebook every day. That’s basically the business model.

The concerning part is this:

Some of the people actively participating, running and moderating this group were recent candidates for town office.

Let that sink in for a moment.

People who recently asked residents to trust them with budgets, zoning, roads, taxes, and public policy are now online spreading false information and joking about punching reporters.

That should worry people far more than anything printed in a newspaper.

God help us all. God help Warwick if Facebook comment sections are now its leadership training.

A Final Thought

There is an old saying: when you spend all your time looking for villains, be careful not to find yourself staring into a mirror.

The people who claim to be fighting extremism, misinformation, intimidation, and political manipulation should take a long look in the mirror, and at their own behavior.

Because from where I’m sitting, the resemblance is starting to look less like coincidence and more like reflection.

As for me, I was actually planning to write about the upcoming rally and even considered attending, because like many people I don’t agree with many things happening in this country right now.

But I think I’ll pass.

I have no interest in holding rank and marching alongside people protesting extremists while behaving more extreme than MAGA itself.

Nothing makes you reconsider your alliances faster than realizing you’d be standing next to the same kind of people you thought you were protesting.

I believe many of us in Warwick who may disagree with the current direction of things still believe our town deserves better than Facebook politics, misinformation, and self-appointed online revolutionaries like Christopher Keelty and Don S. Kilcoyne.

— Kat Leslie

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This column is an opinion piece based on publicly available social media posts and public records. Readers are encouraged to review those materials and draw their own conclusions.