Mount Vernon activist apologizes after confrontation with youth volunteer
The incident happened Tuesday on Devonia Avenue as volunteer Jermire Pyatt, working with the Mount Vernon Youth Bureau, was leading a group of minors distributing informational flyers about the Mount Vernon School District budget revote.
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A confrontation caught on video between a Mount Vernon community activist and a youth volunteer has sparked criticism and concern throughout the city.
The incident happened Tuesday on Devonia Avenue as volunteer Jermire Pyatt, working with the Mount Vernon Youth Bureau, was leading a group of minors distributing informational flyers about the Mount Vernon School District budget revote.
Video obtained by News 12 shows Gabriel Thompson confronting Pyatt, accusing him of illegally placing flyers on vehicle windshields and questioning his presence in the neighborhood. The exchange quickly became heated, with Thompson using profanity as children accompanying Pyatt could be heard in the background.
Pyatt said the confrontation escalated after he attempted to walk away.
“I was over there at the corner of that block, and I told him, ‘Have a good day.’ I went over here, and he decided to follow me all the way from over there to here,” Pyatt told News 12.
In the video, Pyatt can be heard warning Thompson that he would call police if the behavior continued.
“Do you want me to call the cops? Because you’re harassing kids now,” Pyatt says in the recording.
The flyers being distributed outlined the potential consequences of a failed vote on the school district’s proposed budget.
The incident drew a strong response from Mount Vernon Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard, who compared the encounter to civil rights-era intimidation.
“It feels like Montgomery, 1960, not Mount Vernon, 2026,” the mayor said.
Patterson-Howard later criticized Thompson’s actions in a Facebook post, saying it was “absolutely unacceptable” to question a young volunteer’s right to be in a neighborhood and threaten to call police.
In a statement to News 12, Thompson acknowledged his behavior and offered an apology to Pyatt while maintaining that he believed the flyer distribution was illegal.
“I should not have been so agitated. I agree, I was a jerk. Tensions were high and I was trying to find out who was paying to have stuff distributed,” Thompson said.
Pyatt said the situation could have been handled much differently.
“All he had to do was come to me and say, ‘Hey, do you mind not putting your stuff on my property?’ But he proceeded to harass me,” Pyatt said.
The Mount Vernon School District budget was approved by voters Tuesday.
