Waski, Shea clash over 9/11 comments at Riverhead Town Board meeting 

Riverhead officials focused on public safety, infrastructure and other business at Tuesday’s Town Board meeting — but a public spat between Councilwoman Joann Waski and former Town Board candidate Kevin Shea drew much of the attention.

Several speakers criticized a now-deleted Facebook post Ms. Waski made days before last week’s 25th anniversary of 9/11 about comments Mr. Shea made at a July 21 Town Board meeting, where he initially referred to the terror attacks as an “accident.”

At that meeting, Councilman Kenneth Rothwell immediately corrected Mr. Shea — while Supervisor Jerry Halpin also contradicted him, calling 9/11 “an act of war.”

Mr. Shea, the sole survivor of his 13-member FDNY Engine 40/Ladder 35 battalion who suffered serious injuries when the Twin Towers fell, quickly corrected himself, saying he “misspoke.” He went on to call 9/11 a “terrorist act on our country.”

The issue bubbled up again ahead of Riverhead’s 9/11 commemorations when Ms. Waski posted about the exchange on Facebook.

“I applaud Councilman Ken Rothwell for correcting Mr. Shea and making clear that September 11th was not an accident — it was an act of terrorism that changed our nation forever,” she wrote in the post obtained by the Riverhead News-Review. “This is what socialism looks like when history is rewritten and reality is diminished.”

Ms. Waski also wrote that Mr. Shea “did try to bail himself out and call it an ‘incident,'” but still claimed that “he does not believe that it was a terrorist attack.”

Mr. Shea — who was endorsed by the Long Island Democratic Socialists of America during his unsuccessful Town Board run last year — was among those attending Tuesday’s board meeting to support OLA of Eastern Long Island’s proposed Public Safety and Accountability Law, which Riverhead officials have not reached a decision on.

That issue took a backseat as Riverhead Democratic Committee chair Laura Jens-Smith accused Ms. Waski of taking Mr. Shea’s comment out of context.

“You took a person’s verbal mistake, omitted the immediate correction, attributed a belief to him that his own words contradict, and used it to promote a partisan narrative,” Ms. Jens-Smith said. “We have moved beyond legitimate political disagreement, we have entered politics where diminishing somebody else becomes paramount to elevating oneself.”

Ms. Waski then addressed the room, saying she believed at the time that Mr. Shea meant the Sept. 11 attacks were an accident and that his comments had upset her.

“There are people out there that are trying to erase history, and I’m not saying that Mr. Shea is by any means,” said Ms. Waski, a Republican elected to the board in 2023. “Mr. Shea, I appreciate that you did what you did on 9/11, and I am sorry that you lost people near to you and dear to you, and I am very thankful that you made it out alive, and I’m glad that you’re with us today.”

“It’s a very light apology, I should not have attacked you, as I did,” she continued. “I was hurt and worried that other people are going to not recall that 9/11 was a terrorist attack.”

Mr. Shea returned to the podium and thanked those who defended him, describing Ms. Waski’s post as “an act of defamation.”

“As you had stated to me, a light apology, you said it was about your reaction to what I said,” Mr. Shea said. “You don’t know me yet, and I don’t know you, so here’s an opportunity to get to know me better — then you won’t have to make any judgments, and you won’t have to use my name for any political purposes.”

Other speakers also weighed in. Some wore FDNY gear to show their support for Mr. Shea, a Baiting Hollow resident.

A few defended Ms. Waski, including Susan Tocci of Flanders, who said she was concerned about what she described as bullying and name-calling at Town Board meetings.

“If I ask Ms. Waski for help, she’s there — she’s there for everybody, no matter what,” Ms. Tocci said. “You can agree or disagree, but to listen to the cackling, the name calling, the immature, childlike behavior, this is why we have people that won’t come up and speak up, their freedom of speech.”

Several said Ms. Waski owed Mr. Shea an apology.

“We all make mistakes,” said Sarah Reynolds of Riverhead. “The question is whether you own them.”

Mr. Rothwell, the Republican nominee for supervisor who is running against Mr. Halpin in November, said in an interview with the Riverhead News-Review before Tuesday’s meeting that he believed Mr. Shea’s political affiliations factored into the dispute.

“I’m not big on social media in terms of like attacks and things like that…I think in terms of social media, more about trying to bring people aware of the good things we’re doing,” Mr. Rothwell said. “I commend Kevin Shea for his service in the FDNY, and I think that you know his story is profound, and he was injured, and he should be well respected for his line of service in there — but it wasn’t an accident, and I just think that we can’t allow anybody to rewrite history.”