How a pair of Facebook posts prompted an outcry and roiled a Worcester City Council race

WORCESTER — On the night of Aug. 9, former District 5 City Councilor Wayne A. Griffin said he had seen a "new low in Worcester politics."

In a post in the conservative-leaning Worcester Facebook group The Seven Hills Political Exchange, Griffin claimed District 5 City Councilor Etel Haxhiaj's political committee had received a campaign donation from a person Griffin claimed was a close relative of Jorge Zambrano, who shot and killed Auburn police officer Ronald Tarentino Jr. in 2016 before being fatally shot by state troopers.

However, the person Griffin named was unrelated to Zambrano and was in fact a 17-year-old girl.

Griffin said in his post the donation was "not just BLOOD MONEY but a continued sign of where (Haxhiaj's) allegiances lie." He said it was a reason to vote for and donate to the campaign of District 5 candidate Jose Rivera.

By the morning of Aug. 10, Griffin had made the same post on the Facebook page of International Brotherhood of Police Officers Local 504, the city police officials union, and Worcester police Sgt. Anthony Petrone had commented with the girl's $40 campaign donation listing from the Office of Campaign and Political Finance website, including her address.

Both posts were deleted the next day, following a backlash.

Petition before City Council

Cara Berg Powers and Doug Arbetter, two Worcester progressives, attempted to petition the City Council for a Public Safety Commission hearing on the potential harm done by social media conduct of city employees and how the city would enforce its social media policy, but the petition was rejected by the city Law Department, saying the City Council is restricted from participating in the appointment or removal of officers or other city employees..

The posts first came to the attention of a wider audience when independent journalist Bill Shaner of the newsletter Worcester Sucks and I Love It shared a screenshot of Griffin's post and Petrone's comment to the officials union page on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Shaner had edited the screenshot to remove the name of the girl and her address.

In a social media thread, Haxhiaj denounced Griffin's and Petrone's posting of the girl's name and information. She referred to their actions as "harassment" of the girl and her family, and said she had reported the posting to City Manager Eric M. Batista.

"As a mother, a woman, and elected official I am horrified by this behavior," Haxhiaj said Aug. 11. "To harass a minor & a constituent for supporting me, is shameful, unacceptable and crossing the line."

Griffin has been vocally opposed to Haxhiaj, one of the city's most progressive city councilors, and supportive of Rivera in multiple online forums.

During a Thursday communication with a reporter through Facebook Messenger, Griffin said he learned about the girl's donation and her supposed connection to Zambrano from Worcester lawyer Margaret Melican, who has also been vocally opposed to Haxhiaj, and referred the reporter to Melican.

When asked why he believed it was worth it to post the name of a person who he never claimed had been convicted of a crime over a $40 political donation, Griffin said he was doing "a favor" for Melican.

$40 contribution from minor illegal

Griffin also said a $40 contribution from a minor was illegal.

Individuals 17 or younger can contribute up to $25 per year to a candidate, according to a spokesperson for the Office of Political and Campaign Finance.

Melican, in a phone call, said Thursday that she was too unwell to discuss the matter, but confirmed that she had done research on the donation. Melican did not explain how she came to an erroneous conclusion about the person's connection to Zambrano.

Requests for comment from Petrone and the officials union were not returned by the time of publication.

The union Facebook page had been made private as of Thursday. Shaner shared a screenshot allegedly from the union page where Petrone apologized for Griffin's original post, said he did not think Griffin would share untrue information, and added that Petrone had spoken with the family of the girl named in the post.

Petrone moderates the union Facebook page and must approve any post that appears on it.

The reported apology did not mention his posting of information from the Office of Campaign and Political Finance.

City: Social media policies not violated

A spokesperson for the city said Petrone's comment was limited to information made publicly available by the Office of Campaign and Political Finance. According to the spokesperson, the comment does not appear to violate the city or police social media policies based on available information.

According to Worcester police social media policy that went into effect in 2021, rules and regulations that govern off-duty officer behavior, such as prohibitions on harassment and conduct unbecoming an officer, also apply to social media behavior.

In a Monday statement, Rivera said that Griffin, whom he did not name, is not a part of his campaign committee.

"I know our supporters can be passionate, but in no way should any of them be disrespectful of others," Rivera said. "My campaign did not in any way involve itself in the release of a social media post regarding a donation made to the incumbent District 5 city councilor, nor is the individual responsible, a member of the committee."

Rivera denounces Griffin's post

In a Thursday call, Rivera denounced Griffin's post and said his team has communicated with Griffin that they did not wish for him to attend campaign events. He said Griffin evidently had an "ax to grind" with Haxhiaj.

"It was the wrong thing to do; I didn't agree with it," Rivera said. "Had I known that something like that was going to be thrown out there I would have shut it down right away."

Even if Griffin's claim was erroneous, Rivera said he disagreed with the idea that close relatives should have to be held responsible for the actions of their family members.

On Petrone, Rivera said it appeared that his fault was believing Griffin's claims, adding that Petrone has taken responsibility by taking down the post on the union page, blocking Griffin and apologizing to the family.

Rivera said supporters of Haxhiaj have tried to tie Griffin's and Petrone's actions to him.

"They find any way to tie them to me so they can try to make their candidate look better or my candidacy look bad," Rivera said.

Public hearing requested

In reaction to the posting of the girl's information, the progressive independent expenditure political action committee Worcester Working Families announced Tuesday that Berg Powers and Arbetter are petitioning City Council on the issue.

Berg Powers and Arbetter are the chairman and treasurer of the PAC, respectively.

According to an email correspondence with the City Clerk's office shared with a reporter by Arbetter, the petition was rejected Friday.

The petition requested the Public Safety Standing Committee hold a public hearing to hear about whether employed police officers have been compliant with the department's social media policy, to hear testimony from members of the public who have been harmed by a perceived lack of enforcement of the policy and to entertain new recommendations for enforcement.

According to the email from the clerk's office, the Law Department found the petition was inappropriate for City Council and quoted the opinion of the Law Department.

"The petition is not appropriate for the city council," the email read. "The charter restricts the jurisdiction of the council with respect to participation in the appointment or removal of individuals from city offices under the city manager’s responsibility."

Arbetter responded to the email to say he considered the Law Department's opinion a "gross misinterpretation" as the petition called for a hearing and not for the active hiring or firing of any employee.

Berg Powers said Thursday the reason they put the petition forward was that there have been times in the past where she believes city employees have harassed private individuals over their beliefs with little comment coming from City Hall. She said that was especially true in 2020 in the wake of the nationwide Black Lives Matters protests.

"(The city's social media policy) has been pretty uneven since it was established," Berg Powers said.

Berg Powers was on the Human Rights Commission when a social media policy for city employees was first being discussed.

The officials union page was also the center of controversy in 2021 when someone posted a photo of Mayor Joseph M. Petty edited with an Adolf Hitler-like mustache.

In February, the city was mum on whether a firefighter was formally disciplined for sharing an image of President Joe Biden, then a presidential candidate, edited to be dressed like Hitler and contain swastikas.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Facebook post falsely ties Worcester teen to notorious cop killer