A volunteer in Mount Vernon says he was confronted and followed while handing out flyers ahead of a school budget revote. The encounter was captured on video and has drawn attention in the community. It unfolded as the city prepares for a second round of voting on its school budget.
The volunteer was identified as Jameer Pyatt, who works with the Mount Vernon Youth Bureau. He said he was on Devonia Avenue this past Tuesday when the confrontation happened. Pyatt described himself as a longtime volunteer who returned to the scene to recount what took place.
According to Pyatt, a man named Gabriel Thompson accused him of committing a crime by distributing political information on car windshields. Pyatt said Thompson grew belligerent during the encounter. He said he warned that he would call the police as the situation escalated.
Pyatt said Thompson then followed him as he tried to walk away. He described being followed from one part of the block to another and feeling harassed. He compared the experience to a different era, saying it felt like Montgomery in the 1960s rather than Mount Vernon in 2026.
Pyatt said he and the children who were with him had been distributing flyers about the upcoming vote. The flyers detailed the consequences of a no vote on the city's second round of school budget voting. He later posted a response to the incident on social media.
In a statement to News 12, Thompson acknowledged his behavior and offered to provide Pyatt with an apology. At the same time, he maintained his view that Pyatt's actions were illegal. He said the situation could have been handled with a simple conversation.
Thompson said all Pyatt had to do was approach him and ask about not placing material on his property. He said instead he felt that Pyatt had followed and harassed him, offering his own account of the dispute. The differing versions left a community confrontation that played out just before an important local vote.