Two gay men canvassing for Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign in rural Pennsylvania were verbally assaulted with homophobic slurs and violent threats on Saturday, an incident captured on video. Jason Bello and Justin Coniaris traveled from Washington, D.C., to Stewartstown, north of the Maryland state line, to volunteer for the campaign. Though shaken, they say the encounter has only reinforced their determination as Election Day approaches.
According to Bello, the incident began as he and Coniaris left the campaign office to canvass nearby neighborhoods. The office displayed campaign yard signs in a private office park where the campaign paid for rental space. As Bello and Coniaris walked through the lot, a man driving by began shouting slurs and obscenities out his car window.
In a video of the incident, the man can be heard saying, “Get your little f***ing f*g asses out of this town. We don’t need you in this f***ing town. You little f***ing piece of shit. Go suck each other’s cocks somewhere else, you f***ing f*g[s], before I f***ing put a gun in you pieces of shit.” He also threatened to return and remove all campaign signs, shouting, “I will be back and rip every one of your f***ing signs out...”
Bello said the pair was perplexed at first.
“We were disturbed, but it was a crazy guy shouting at us as we drove by, so we shook it off,” Bello said. However, the situation escalated when the man followed them into the parking lot and confronted them in person. Bello captured the interaction on video. “At that point, I was very scared. Especially when he said, ‘Before I fucking put a gun in you pieces of shit.’ We were just standing there between him and the road. I had no idea what was going to happen.”
Reflecting on the encounter, Bello said he feared for his safety and Coniaris, who had moved into the man’s path. “I was really worried he was going to hit Justin, which is why I was yelling at him to get on the other side of the barrier, but thankfully, the guy in the car just sped past,” Bello said. “Our goal was just to de-escalate and try and get him to leave as fast as possible.”
“It was obviously terrifying at the time,” Bello added. “It made me think of how one-sided the hatred is. A Trump supporter might feel uncomfortable in a highly Democratic area, but I don’t feel like a lot of Trump supporters would feel physically unsafe and threatened in the way that this guy made us feel.”
In a statement to The Advocate, Harris-Walz Pennsylvania communications director Jack Doyle expressed gratitude for the men’s involvement and reiterated the campaign’s commitment to volunteer safety. “Our campaign is dedicated to keeping our staff and volunteers safe, and we’re grateful for these individuals and the thousands of volunteers taking time out of their day to help build a new way forward for our country,” Doyle said. “Unlike Donald Trump, who continues to sow division and hate, Vice President Harris will be a president for all Americans – and is fighting to ensure every person can live and participate in our society without fear of discrimination or threat of violence.”
Despite the hostility, Bello and Coniaris chose to continue canvassing. Bello described the remainder of the day as “inspiring” as they spoke to numerous local voters, some of whom expressed gratitude for their presence. “We talked to tons of voters,” Bello said. “We talked to people who expressed gratitude for us being there. We helped people learn more about the candidates. We helped people figure out how to vote.” Bello said he felt the day had made a real impact. “One of the canvassers told us that 2020 was decided by an average of 5 voters per precinct. I am pretty sure that the day we spent there made a difference for at least one voter, and that made the whole thing worthwhile.”
Bello hopes the video of the altercation serves as a wake-up call for voters, particularly within the LGBTQ+ community. “I hope that any LGBT person who sees this video recognizes that this election is about us, too,” Bello said. “Trump enables this hatred. He promotes this hatred.”
Bello added: “As intense as it was, this is what generations of queer people before us have endured, and it’s our turn to be there and face the hatred. The hate is real. I feel awful for people who have to endure it in these places like this every day. As long as the hate is real, I’m happy to take my fair share of it.”
He urged other volunteers to continue canvassing and to resist intimidation.
“My only hope is that people see this video and are motivated to go out and canvass this week [and] weekend,” Bello said. “Don’t let it scare you. The only way we can fight this hate is to not back down and to win this election.”
