ROME, New York – A local politician in upstate New York released a picture of a Correllian Tradition event, identifying the individuals and calling them “Satanists,” while alleging that they are indoctrinating children.
Mr. Wil Fiacco is a Republican candidate for NY State Senate District 53, just east of Syracuse in the Oneida-Utica-Rome area, covering parts of the counties of Chenango, Herkimer, Oneida, and Madison.
Mr. Wil Fiacco, candidate for New York State Senate [via Facebook
Fiacco changed political parties after withdrawing from the election to the New York State Assembly District 117 in 2022. Fiacco is currently challenging Senator Joseph Griffo (R).
In an interview on WUTQ in early January announcing his campaign, Fiacco mentioned that he left the Democratic party because it was out of touch and “it went against [his] Christian values.” Four days ago on social media, he expressed a growing concern that “something ‘odd’ or even ‘extreme’ is about to happen globally” and mentioned feeling “unsettled.”
On his campaign website, Fiacco states his concern that we are on the precipice of the third world war and that “the nation is on the verge of a civil war between democrats & republicans. The anger & hatred manifesting between the parties and the dividing rhetoric are coming to a head. If we don’t do something now to attempt to diffuse the anger and get both parties working together, we are going to be in serious trouble as a nation.”
Three days ago, just after the Oneida County Republican Party endorsed his opponent, Fiacco posted on Facebook a photo of members of the Correllian Tradition Church participating in the 2022 Lustration of the Living in Buffalo, NY. Buffalo is about 3 hours west of Oneida and not part of District 53.
Fiacco wrote, “A pic from an account of a Satanist school teacher who wants to indoctrinate YOUR children into devil worship. Yes, our schools are done. Time to remove bad teachers and start all over again.”
Editorial Note: Although the Facebook post and photo are public, TWH has not received consent from the named individuals and is not posting the link.
The rationale for posting the photo was unclear, especially given Fiacco’s other comments.
In previous posts, Fiacco wrote that he wanted to see both parties “call out extremism, and work together to make our nation a better place.” In another post, he noted “I am not about division, I am about unity,” and “We have to change this pattern of distrust and suspicion of each other. We have to remember that we need each other, and that includes those we disagree with. We need to educate each one another and accept each other for our differences. We cannot let us destroy ourselves by destroying each other.”
The Wild Hunt contacted Mr. Fiacco last night for clarification about his social media post.
TWH had not heard from Fiacco or a member of his campaign at the time of publication.
Shortly afterward the emails from TWH were sent, Fiacco posted on Facebook, “Seems I’ve made the devil mad !!! Check out the 7 people who have an Angry emoticon on this post. Each one of them is a Satanist. But they lie and call it something else: Wiccan, Correllian, Paganists, etc. IT’S ALL SATANISM !”
Fiacco then misstates the New Testament and outs the individuals in the photo by name. He writes “* Matthew 6:24 – “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other.”
The full quote from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount is “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
In an exchange on Facebook shared by Rev. Melanie Bermudez, members of the community attempted to correct Fiacco on his understanding of Wicca and Paganism. When called out about his comments, Fiacco wrote, “If you’re not a Christian, you shouldn’t be teaching children. Besides that, you’re not just an unbeliever, you’re a Satanist. Pure evil and damned for all eternity. Stay away from kids.”
TWH contacted members of the Correllian Tradition and the current leaders released a statement this morning about Fiacco’s behavior.
On March 7, 2022, Fiacco wrote:
He then added,
Both are remarkable feats of tragic foreshadowing.
Update: 2/5/2024 7:25PM
Fiacco reported that he met with members of the Correllian Tradition and then posted on Facebook:
Just had an interview with the Correllian Pagan group, but it didn’t last long.
I was cut off after less than 10 minutes because I refused to accept their group as a religion.
They are not a religion. They are Satanists.
Any faith that denies the free salvation of Christ is a false religion. And those that embrace those false religions will be thrown into the Lake of Fire after Judgment Day.
That’s the fact that they could not bear.
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