“Once again, we wake up to another shooting that is killing our community members, simply because of hate,” said David Kilmnick of the LGBT Network. Kilmnick says he is in contact with police and has been assured that patrols will be stepped up at all LGBTQ locations and events in the area. This includes the LGBT Network’s upcoming Transgender Day of Remembrance events. “It doesn’t matter if you are LGBT or not, this is not something that is acceptable. This is not something that is normal,” he said.
Kilmnick said he worries about the group’s community centers in Bay Shore, Hauppauge and Sag Harbor becoming targets of violence. “We need to pass laws that protect LGBTQ people from these anti-gay folks,” Kilmnick said Sunday. “It happened in Colorado, but it certainly could happen here.” In a later statement, Kilmnick said: “Senseless hate violence and the anti-LGBT rhetoric that is spreading, leads to these attacks and it must stop. We know hate leads to violence and we are not immune to this threat on Long Island and Queens.” Kilmnick himself was the victim of years of threats from a Bayport man sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for his actions. Robert Fehring, 74, sent 60 menacing letters to Long Island LGBTQ leaders and allies between 2013 and 2021. Prosecutors said Fehring threatened in a June 2021 letter to use a high-powered rifle if Kilmnick showed up at the Long Island Pride Festival in Nassau County.
