This article was written by Bart Jones and published in Newsday.
Bill Kiley spent 30 years in the Suffolk County Police Department, rising to a top-level job as a deputy chief. Now he is devoted to a new mission — fighting hatred on Long Island.
Kiley is leading a new interfaith effort he hopes will stop hatred, draw attention to incidents of hate, and provide support to victims of it. Formed about six months ago, the Huntington Action Network Against Hate (HANAH) has brought together Christians, Jews, Muslims, Unitarian Universalists and Baha'i...
Claire Mis, a deacon at St. John's Episcopal Church in Huntington and a member of HANAH, said she thought linking different faith communities to fight hate was a powerful idea, partly because many of them did not know each other before even though they live in the same town.
"I think it is a wonderful opportunity for faith-based communities of all sorts to get to know each other," she said. "A lot of times we don’t communicate with each other, we don’t talk with each other, we don’t even know people from other faith communities. I think it is a wonderful way to be able to reach out and help each other in times of need."