Community Groups at Facebook’s Response To The Nazi Salute
Many people in the community were quick to publicly identify Daniel and his business in comment threads on various posts. The video was first posted on Inside Scoop Fishkill, a group on Facebook moderated by James Kearney, but then it was deleted. Another Fishkill group, Keep Fishkill Beautiful moderated by Karen Finnegan, then published an edited version, where the teens were blurred out.
Karen told ALBB: “Inside Scoop Fishkill, with over 10k members, ended up pulling the video and issued this statement. Keep Fishkill Beautiful has no problem at all publishing the video. There are ways to control discussions on groups like this while also standing on the right side of history. Our group with just 3k followers put it up - safely, monitoring comments, and not only that - brought it to the attention of both the Town and the Board, which is why Mayor Martin made her statement. Regular people need to be doing this daily. Keep Fishkill Beautiful is trying to be seen as a nonpartisan group that also isn’t OK with literal Nazis here.”
ALBB reached out to Inside Scoop Fishkill for comment, and received this statement from James: “The decision to remove the post was not made to protect or excuse his actions. We do not condone what happened in the video whatsoever.
“The post was removed because the comments escalated into people sharing personal information, including addresses, threats toward immediate family members, and photos of children. Once it became a safety concern involving a child and people not directly involved, we had a responsibility to remove it.
“There is a difference between holding someone accountable and putting uninvolved family members, children, or private individuals at risk. We do not own or defend his actions, but we are responsible for keeping this page from becoming a place where personal information, threats, or photos of children are shared.
“We appreciate your understanding as we try to balance open discussion, accountability, privacy, and safety for the entire community.”
Keep Fishkill Beautiful is continuing its advocacy at the Town Meeting, and provided this statement to ALBB: “The normalization of expressions of hate and oppression has increased exponentially in our country.
“What would have been unheard of ten years ago has become a regular occurrence. The only thing that we as regular citizens can do - is to pressure our elected officials to take these heinous acts seriously and govern FOR THE PEOPLE.
“I’ve asked the Town of Fishkill to do something beyond issuing a statement. Form a committee, issue a proclamation, revoke his business license…anything to let everyone in the community know that there is no place for hate in our community.”
Village of Fishkill Police Commissioner Glenn R. Scofield Jr. has not yet released if any enforcement will be taken, such as harassment of teens.
Friends Responses To The Nazi Salute
“The Fishkill Nazi is 100% without a doubt Daniel Mandia,” one person told ALBB. “I have known him for over 40 years. He grew up in Beacon. He is the oldest of 11 siblings, all of which are decent people along with his parents who are good people.”
One acquaintance confirmed that Daniel enjoyed being a rapper under the pseudonym "D-tox." “But when that didn't work out, he chose white supremacy,” the friend concluded.
An acquaintance also confirmed that Daniel is the same Daniel who caused the death of a motorcyclist, Nicole Pepe, age 26, in 2014, as reported in the Poughkeepsie Journal. From the article: “Police reported the crash occurred about 11:18 p.m. Aug. 16. Pepe was a passenger on a Harley Davidson Motorcycle that collided with a car near the intersection of Baxtertown Road and Jackson Street.”
The acquaintance continued to ALBB: “That incident happened at the Fishkill Block Party 2014. I have personal knowledge that he was drinking all night before the accident.” It is unknown at this time if the investigation into the car crashing into the motorcycle involved a breathalyzer test.
Law Enforcement’s Response To The Nazi Salute
ALBB reached out to Village of Fishkill Police Commissioner Glenn R. Scofield Jr. to confirm a police report made about the incident and inquire as to what action was being taken by law enforcement. Commissioner Glenn R. Scofield Jr. responded: “The department is actively following up on this matter. However, we do not comment on open or pending investigations. Consequently, we cannot provide statement or confirmation regarding the incident details or the social media account mentioned at this time. As far as the position of the Village of Fishkill Police Department, I refer you to the statement provided by Mayor Martin at the June 1, 2026, meeting of the Village Board of Trustees.”
Mayor Kathy Martin’s Response To The Nazi Salute
Mayor Kathy Martin is the Mayor of the Village of Fishkill. But she is also the tax assessor for the City of Beacon (see previous coverage of assessment review board here). And had been a board member of the Board of Ethics Board of Dutchess County, but does not appear to be on that board anymore (ALBB highlighted her board position an article when Beacon City Council questioned Mayor Kyriacou about how to submit ethics complaints about Beacon board members). Many roads had lead to Kathy Martin.
Mayor Martin’s statement was strong and swift. Beacon usually sees her in a service capacity, explaining how tax assessments work every year, encouraging people to come to her if they have any questions. But in her role as Mayor of East Fishkill, she took a much different tone in condemning the action. Her quote in full is below, and the video of the incident and her statement is below: