Around 150 people attended a rally Saturday afternoon held by Power Up Manchester in support of the group’s founder Keren Prescott, following an unsettling encounter the local activist had outside the state Capitol building on Wednesday.
At a demonstration outside the Capitol building to mark the beginning of the legislative session, anti-vaccination activist Yuliya Gilshteyn of New Fairfield yelled at, and then deliberately spat upon, Prescott. Gilshteyn was charged with breach of peace and ordered to appear in court Jan. 20. Prescott’s supporters believe the charges should be more severe, reflecting that there was an assault.
A video of the Capitol incident has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times on Instagram and other social media.