NY State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli Cancels Speech, Hastily Exits Democratic Event to Avoid Gaza Questions, After Representative Josh Riley’s Speech Disrupted Repeatedly

Media Contact: John Mason, masonjt1950@gmail.com; 518-929-7382

(Columbia County, New York, September 5, 2025) — New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli canceled his closing speech and beat a hasty exit Friday evening from the annual picnic of the Columbia County Democratic Committee (CCDC), after Palestinian rights advocates repeatedly interrupted remarks from Congressman Josh Riley (NY-19) criticizing him for supporting Israel’s genocidal war on 2.2 million Palestinians trapped in the Gaza Strip. Some 35 protesters then followed DiNapoli into the parking lot and to his car, chanting, “Tom DiNapoli, you can’t hide, you’re supporting genocide,” and “Boycott, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest.” The protesters continued to make it difficult for his SUV to exit the event, slow-walking his car to a crawl over the quarter mile long driveway. Riley left immediately, without speaking to attendees. [SEE VIDEO CLIPS AND PHOTOS]  

The picnic, which otherwise rallied support for Democratic candidates, was rocked when Riley took the stage, and a succession of attendees jumped up urging him to support H.R. 3565, the Block the Bombs Act, to stop enabling the slaughter and starvation of Palestinians, and criticizing his August “paid for by AIPAC” trip to Israel. Riley acknowledged the protesters but refused to provide any answers, saying he could meet with them later, provoking the response “We tried that and you wouldn’t meet with us.” He then proceeded to talk about his domestic agenda.

After Riley’s speech was repeatedly interrupted, CCDC Chair Sam Hodge, the emcee, abruptly ended the event, canceling the closing speech of DiNapoli, the only statewide official at the event. DiNapoli had stood on the sidelines for about 90 minutes waiting to speak. Riley and DiNapoli had been preceded to the stage by two Democratic candidates for local office and two Democratic members of the New York State Legislature whose speeches were delivered without interruption. Attendees, many seemingly stunned by the event’s abrupt ending in a protest, lingered behind in discussion.

If Riley is objectionable to Palestinian rights advocates, DiNapoli had good reason to expect similar treatment from them. He has been dogged by protests over the $352 million in investments from the State Common Retirement Fund he has made in Israel Bonds. which directly support Israel’s illegal occupation, apartheid, ethnic cleansing, and genocide in Palestine. The New York State Common Retirement Fund (NYSCRF), which DiNapoli administers, is one of the top U.S. investors in Israel Bonds.

Riley is a first-term Democrat in a swing district who defeated Republican Marc Molinaro by less than 2 percentage points in the November 2024 election. The 19th Congressional District encompasses parts of the Southern Tier, the Catskills, the Hudson Valley, and the Capital Region, covering all of nine counties and parts of two more.

While Riley was speaking, the protesters unfurled cloth banners with messages such as “Stop Starving Gaza,” “Stop Arming Israel,” and “Killing Babies Is Not Self-Defense.” As DiNapoli left the meeting, banners included “No to Israel Bonds” and “Stop Investing in Genocide.”

Overall more than thirty-five constituents from the Southern Tier to the Hudson Valley and the Capital District  took part in the action organized by Columbia County for Palestine (CC4P). In the leadup to the 2024 Democratic National Convention and the general election, members of CC4P protested for Palestine at least weekly, sometimes daily, in front of the CCDC offices in Hudson. The CCDC has been silent on the Palestinian issue.

“Polls show that the general public and Democratic voters in particular oppose Israel’s actions in Gaza, but officials like Riley and DiNapoli have refused to represent the views of the people who elected them. They should face protests until they act to end U.S. assistance to Israel, and to support freedom for Palestinians,” said Jim McCabe, an organizer with CC4P from Claverack.

“With Israel carrying out a genocide in Gaza with U.S. weapons, and moving to completely take over the West Bank, all with support from Josh Riley and Tom DiNapoli, it was our obligation to confront them with the facts, and to demand action when they came to our community,” said Susan Davies, a CC4P organizer from Chatham.

Following Riley’s failure to even mildly criticize Israel in his statement on his AIPAC trip, he was met with a protest by constituents in Binghamton. Riley’s August 28 talk in Ithaca was canceled after a protest was announced over his support for Israel. Riley was endorsed by the Israel lobby group Democratic Majority for Israel during his 2024 campaign, and received tens of thousands of dollars in donations from pro-Israel groups and individuals in 2022 and 2024. Protesters also have rallied in front of the New York State Comptroller’s offices in Albany over DiNapoli’s stated support for Israel and his investments in Israel Bonds.

Additional videos and photos of this Columbia County protest of Josh Riley and Tom DiNapoli will be added to this file as they become available.