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Connecticut State Police responded to the Centinal's inquiry and indicated that preliminary information showed that Troop H personnel responded to the Attorney General's Office in Hartford on 08/04/25 at approximately 2:18 PM for a reported suspicious message received via social media.
An investigation was assumed by Central District Major Crimes Detectives.
Connecticut State Police subsequently informed Rev. Jacob W. Dell by text at 2:33 pm on August 7th that the investigation into his tweet had been closed as "non-criminal."
The original story follows below.
The Rev. Jacob W. Dell, Pastor of The First Congregational Church of Woodbury, found himself under investigation, apparently at the direction of Connecticut Attorney General William Tong who asked the Connecticut Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection to determine the intent behind a tweet Dell posted on July 23, 2025.
Dell had previously contacted Tong's office to request an investigation into the national threat of "law-breaking churches" after a transgender pastor was allegedly tied to the tragic suicide of a Connecticut girl, Ilene Syed, who suffered from gender dysphoria -- a condition called "socially contagious" and blamed for a “concerted international push [to] erase” women, according to a recent draft U.N. report.
However, Tong does not consider anything that Project Veritas does credible.
Therefore, he declined to even respond to Dell's request, prompting Dell to respond to Tong's inaction by posting his follow-up letter to Tong on X, starting off with the phrase "Silence=Death" and tagging Tong's X account.
Shortly after this tweet, Dell received notification from a Detective at the Department of Emergency Services & Public Protection in Middletown, Connecticut.
The Detective had been allegedly directed to investigate the intent behind Dell's use of the phrase "Silence=Death" on X.
Dell responded to the Detective in writing.
"To be clear, the phrase "Silence=Death" is a widely recognized slogan from the 1980s LGBT rights movement, coined by ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) to protest governmental inaction during the AIDS crisis, which resulted in significant loss of life. Paired historically with an inverted pink triangle, this phrase symbolizes the dire consequences of failing to act in the face of preventable harm," explained Dell. "Any other interpretation is incorrect and ignores both history and context."
Dell further pointed out how the slogan has been used in contemporary advocacy by members of the clergy, citing the Episcopal Bishops of Connecticut in a June 13, 2025, message entitled "A Message from our Bishops: Because Silence = Death."
"My tweet was intended to obliquely refer to such examples of inaction as well," Dell explained to the Detective, "highlighting what I perceive as Attorney General Tong's inaction on serious allegations raised by Project Veritas."
Dell also fully explained the allegations stemming from the Project Veritas investigation, and later separately reported by Elvira Syed, Ilene Syed's mother, at a Federal Trade Commission conference on the dangers of gender affirming care for minors in Washington, DC, on July 9th.
"My use of "Silence=Death" was intended to use a phrase with historical and moral significance to underscore the potential harm of ignoring such issues," wrote Dell. "It is regrettable if the Attorney General or anyone misconstrued its clear meaning, but I assure you my intent was to make a moral point and advocate for action as a minister of the Gospel."
Dell believes a "diligent investigation is a moral and legal imperative" and renewed his call for Attorney General Tong to investigate the Project Veritas findings.
"Continued inaction risks perpetuating harm and undermining public confidence in our state's leadership," said Dell.
The Centinal contacted both the Attorney General's Office and the Connecticut Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection regarding this matter, and will update this article should they respond.
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