Pastor From New Britain Subjected to Apparently Threatening Comments Online in Ansonia

Rev. Brian Riley, who is Pastor of Clinton A.M.E. Zion Church in Ansonia was recently subjected to bizarre and apparently threatening comments directed against him on an Ansonia-oriented Facebook group.

In the Facebook group, a neighbor of Clinton A.M.E. Zion Church’s Pastor said that he may, “start an all out war,” against Rev. Riley, and someone replying to his comments appeared to recommend gunplay.

The local NAACP and Ansonia police have been responding to the incident.

While the Facebook thread began with bizarre comments by the neighbor about Rev. Riley, other people commenting on the Facebook group appeared to uncritically support what the neighbor said.

Rev. Riley’s family interceded with Facebook to have the comments removed as false and abusive.

Rev. Riley has deep roots in the New Britain community. He has been a resident of the city, and an Associate Minister and member of Spottswood A.M.E. Zion Church in New Britain. He has considerable respect in the city for his kindness, generosity and faith.

While Rev. Riley said that the odd comments were personally hurtful, he mainly expressed concern for the safety of his family and about any distraction from the good work his congregation is doing in Ansonia and the surrounding region.

The incident comes in times when ugly, personal and false attacks and threats on social media websites have become unfortunately commonplace. Social media organizations have been widely criticized for elevating falsehoods, bigotry and personal attacks.

Editor’s note: Rev. Brian Riley is President of the New Britain Independent Newspaper, Inc., which publishes the New Britain Progressive newspaper.

Editor’s note (12/18/2023): The article was corrected to note that the neighbor is a neighbor of the Pastor.