West Warwick just turned a constitutional right into a customer satisfaction survey. Last year the Supreme Court decided Mahmoud v. Taylor. Six to three. The holding: when a school teaches material on gender and sexuality, it cannot deny parents notice and the ability to opt their child out when it conflicts with their religious convictions. Montgomery County fought that all the way up, lost, paid $1.5 million, and is now under court-enforced rules. So what did West Warwick do? They sent parents a survey. Asking whether they'd be interested in being notified. Not a notice. A survey about whether you'd like one. That is not how rights work. Nobody surveys you on whether you'd like a lawyer. Nobody polls the neighborhood on whether folks are interested in a warrant before they come through the door. You have it, or somebody is taking it from you, and a friendly form with checkboxes on it is still somebody taking it from you. Write to your principal and your superintendent today. In writing. State that your family has a religious objection and that you are exercising your right under Mahmoud v. Taylor to notice and to opt your child out. Ask what is being taught and when. Keep a copy of everything. You are not requesting a favor. You are informing them of a decision that is yours to make. And to every parent reading this in any town in this district: if your school is making this harder than it should be, send it to me. I will read every one of them. They work for you. Your kids are not theirs. Parents first. Rhode Island First. — Vic Mellor

Seth Magaziner wants to talk about who stands with law enforcement. Fine. Let's use the roll call. January 2025. The Laken Riley Act. The version that passed included assault of a law enforcement officer on the list of offenses that trigger mandatory detention for someone in this country illegally. Seth voted no. Let me tell you what this vote actually means, when the question was put in front of Mr. "Pro-Police" Magaziner asking whether someone here illegally who assaults a cop should be held in jail or detention center, he decided the answer was no. I obviously would have voted yes. I don't think that's a hard one. The Rhode Island Fraternal Order of Police endorsed me in this race. Those are the men and women who actually make that arrest, who go home to their families after a shift, who know exactly what it means when the guy who put a colleague in the hospital walks back out the door. They didn't have to guess where I stand. Rhode Island First. — Vic Mellor

Seth Magaziner held a press conference today designed to portray me as an insurrectionist. Then his plan backfired. Instead of avoiding the cameras, I showed up. And when the press came directly to me afterward, I answered their questions about January 6, law enforcement, and the accusations being made against me. I did not participate in violence. I was never arrested. I was never questioned by the FBI. As a former United States Marine military police K9 handler, I have always respected law enforcement, and I’m proud to have the endorsement of the Rhode Island Fraternal Order of Police. Seth wanted Rhode Islanders to hear his version of my story. Instead, the media came straight to me and gave me the opportunity to tell the truth myself. I’m not afraid of tough questions, and I’m not going to run from political attacks. Rhode Island First.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 10, 2026 Magaziner's Political Stunt Doesn't Provide Any Solutions to Rhode Island's High Cost of Living Mellor Encourages Every Rhode Islander to Thank a Cop today and Every Day WARWICK, R.I. - Vic Mellor, Republican candidate for Rhode Island's 2nd Congressional District, issued the following statement ahead of Rep. Seth Magaziner's political stunt, featuring two people whose viewpoints are inconsistent with the state Fraternal Order of Police, RIFOP, who have endorsed Vic Mellor. I'm proud to have earned this nomination last night from hard-working Rhode Islanders - the people who are worried about making ends meet, our climbing heating and electric costs, and the safety of themselves and their neighborhoods. Ambush politics are not going to work for Seth this time! Instead of meeting me in the arena of ideas, my opponent is playing politics as usual with a stunt undoubtedly funded by well-heeled partisan Democrats and his Epstein associates. Magaziner is flying in two national political speakers to relitigate 2021. Rhode Islanders are living in 2026. I was at the Capitol that day. I did not assault police. I did not use violence. I was not charged with attacking an officer. Anyone who laid hands on a cop was wrong. I condemn it. Harry Dunn and Daniel Hodges are entitled to their account. They are not voters in CD-2. They do not pay an electric bill in Coventry or a rent check in Warwick. They are not on the ballot. This event is not about public safety. If it were, Magaziner would explain his long record of support on cashless bail, an open border, and marching with the Defund the Police crowd. Today, as we prepare to commemorate 9/11 and the sacrifices that our police officers made on that day and many days since, including the times during the 2020 BLM riots and the continuing calls to Defund the Police, I encourage all my fellow Rhode Islanders to Thank A Cop today, tomorrow and every day. They are the ones who get up everyday to put on the uniform and keep us and our neighborhoods safe and protected. I support the police with an unwavering commitment to them and to law and order. While Seth uses them as a political prop, I will continue to back the blue with action and policy." Paid for by Friends of Victor Mellor