Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.
Dismiss
Re: Charlottesville City Council suspends virtual public comments after racist remarks at meeting
1 view
Skip to first unread message
lashan
Oct 23, 2023, 5:35:03 AM10/23/23
to
On 04 Jun 2023, Molly Bolt <mollyth...@gmail.com> posted some
news:5fb4b1ca-4165-4e9d...@googlegroups.com:
> Virginia Democrats are all queers, racists, communists and drug
> addicts.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — The Charlottesville City Council has
suspended virtual public comments during public meetings after anonymous
callers Zoomed into a council meeting and made racist remarks.
The Daily Progress reports that the decision came after an Oct. 2
council meeting was interrupted repeatedly by people who turned their
cameras off, used fake names and flooded the public comment period with
racist slurs and praise for Adolf Hitler.
"We struggled for a while in trying to figure out what we could
constitutionally do and concluded there was not really a good answer,”
Mayor Lloyd Snook told the newspaper last week. “Do we listen to
everybody as they’re ranting, knowing that if they were there in person,
they probably wouldn’t do it, but feel free to do it anonymously
online?”
Under the new policy, the public will still be able to attend meetings
virtually, but anyone who wishes to speak will have to do so in person.
In August 2017, hundreds of white nationalists descended on
Charlottesville, ostensibly to protest city plans to remove a statue of
Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
James Alex Fields Jr., of Maumee, Ohio, rammed his car into a crowd of
people who were protesting against the white nationalists, injuring
dozens and killing Heather Heyer, a 32-year-old paralegal and civil
rights activist. Fields is serving life in prison for murder, hate
crimes and other charges. Councimember Brian Pinkston called the
decision to suspend virtual comments a “judgement call.”
“On one hand, we obviously value people’s input and desire to
participate remotely and we’d love to continue to do that," he told the
newspaper. "But at same time, I’ll call it taking care of the community
and protecting those from behavior that’s not just offensive but deeply
hurtful.”
During the meeting, the people in attendance could be heard gasping
after some of the remarks, and several demanded that the speakers be cut
off.
Council members questioned whether the virtual public comments were
protected by the First Amendment, as the first speaker to make racist
remarks claimed.
Snook eventually looked to city attorney Jacob Stroman for guidance, and
Stroman said the council could cut off the speaker.
“The gross insult” to community members was unacceptable, “even under
the broadest interpretation of the First Amendment,” Stroman said.
The Daily Progress reported that the remarks at the meeting seemed
spurred at least in part by the city’s decision to lift the curfew at a
park after police were accused of mistreating the homeless population
there. That story had been circulating in national right-wing media
ahead of the meeting. Police Chief Michael Kochis called the allegations
“unfounded” and said the city plans to reinstate the curfew to coincide
with the availability of more beds for the unhoused.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/charlottesville-city-council-suspends-v
irtual-public-comments-after-racist-remarks-at-meeting/ar-AA1iEUZW
news:5fb4b1ca-4165-4e9d...@googlegroups.com:
> Virginia Democrats are all queers, racists, communists and drug
> addicts.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — The Charlottesville City Council has
suspended virtual public comments during public meetings after anonymous
callers Zoomed into a council meeting and made racist remarks.
The Daily Progress reports that the decision came after an Oct. 2
council meeting was interrupted repeatedly by people who turned their
cameras off, used fake names and flooded the public comment period with
racist slurs and praise for Adolf Hitler.
"We struggled for a while in trying to figure out what we could
constitutionally do and concluded there was not really a good answer,”
Mayor Lloyd Snook told the newspaper last week. “Do we listen to
everybody as they’re ranting, knowing that if they were there in person,
they probably wouldn’t do it, but feel free to do it anonymously
online?”
Under the new policy, the public will still be able to attend meetings
virtually, but anyone who wishes to speak will have to do so in person.
In August 2017, hundreds of white nationalists descended on
Charlottesville, ostensibly to protest city plans to remove a statue of
Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
James Alex Fields Jr., of Maumee, Ohio, rammed his car into a crowd of
people who were protesting against the white nationalists, injuring
dozens and killing Heather Heyer, a 32-year-old paralegal and civil
rights activist. Fields is serving life in prison for murder, hate
crimes and other charges. Councimember Brian Pinkston called the
decision to suspend virtual comments a “judgement call.”
“On one hand, we obviously value people’s input and desire to
participate remotely and we’d love to continue to do that," he told the
newspaper. "But at same time, I’ll call it taking care of the community
and protecting those from behavior that’s not just offensive but deeply
hurtful.”
During the meeting, the people in attendance could be heard gasping
after some of the remarks, and several demanded that the speakers be cut
off.
Council members questioned whether the virtual public comments were
protected by the First Amendment, as the first speaker to make racist
remarks claimed.
Snook eventually looked to city attorney Jacob Stroman for guidance, and
Stroman said the council could cut off the speaker.
“The gross insult” to community members was unacceptable, “even under
the broadest interpretation of the First Amendment,” Stroman said.
The Daily Progress reported that the remarks at the meeting seemed
spurred at least in part by the city’s decision to lift the curfew at a
park after police were accused of mistreating the homeless population
there. That story had been circulating in national right-wing media
ahead of the meeting. Police Chief Michael Kochis called the allegations
“unfounded” and said the city plans to reinstate the curfew to coincide
with the availability of more beds for the unhoused.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/charlottesville-city-council-suspends-v
irtual-public-comments-after-racist-remarks-at-meeting/ar-AA1iEUZW
0 new messages