Footage from 2020 has been discovered of Scranton’s progressive Democrat mayor, Paige Cognetti, threatening to unleash her police force on church attendees during her COVID-19 crackdown just days before Easter.
SCOOP: On Good Friday in 2020, Paige Cognetti, Scranton mayor and a 2026 Democrat candidate for PA-08, threatened to have police break up in-person services for Easter churchgoers during a virtual town hall despite a state-wide religious exemption for the stay-at-home order. pic.twitter.com/YVEVxys1rx
— Joe Chalfant (@JoeChalfant) March 17, 2026
“Don’t be going out,” Cognetti warned constituents during a 2020 virtual town hall, just two days before Easter. “Don’t be congregating at the park. Don’t have a church service this weekend. Don’t make my police have to go out and tell you guys to stop.”
At the time, Pennsylvania had a state-wide religious exemption to its stay-at-home order. 11 days after issuing her threat, Cognetti acknowledged that she had no authority to order faith-based institutions to cease operations at another town hall.
At the second town hall, she thanked a constituent for reporting a religious organization that was still holding in-person services. Cognetti then described how her office had attempted to pressure the head of that institution into moving its service online rather than holding in-person gatherings. She also encouraged more people to report on their religious neighbors who might be attending in-person services.
In a second town hall, Cognetti thanked a constituent for reporting in-person religious gatherings, announced that her office attempted to pressure a church leader into moving services online, and encouraged others to report further instances of in-person church gatherings. pic.twitter.com/DT0Q9BOA2R
— Joe Chalfant (@JoeChalfant) March 17, 2026
“I know—there was Kevin from Friday, who was flagging a religious—excuse me—a faith-based organization that was still having services, and Kevin, I really appreciate you raising that. We’ve spoken with the leader there,” Cognetti said. “As we’ve talked about, we cannot order a faith-based institution not to have services, but we can strongly urge that they practice social distancing and remote methods of worship. I do think that not only do those calls that we make help, but we only know about it if you're out in the community, let us know.”
Apparently not satisfied with threatening the First Amendment rights of the citizens of Scranton, Cognetti has decided to mount a bid to replace Republican incumbent Rep. Rob Bresnahan in Pennsylvania's Eighth District.
Should Cognetti win the Democratic primary, the two will face off in the 2026 midterms.