Council candidate says rights violated after meeting ejection

District 1 Richmond City Council candidate and frequent meeting commentator Mark Wassberg says his rights were violated when he was removed from a special meeting last week.

During the public comment period, Wassberg criticized the city council, referring to them as a bunch of idiots. When Wassberg mentioned he was on the ballot, Richmond Mayor Eduardo Martinez interjected.

“Excuse me, we are not supposed to do politicking. Can you turn off his mic,” Martinez said. “We are not supposed to do politicking at city council; you have to do that elsewhere.”

Wassberg, describing what happened during the meeting, said the mayor "got ticked off" and tried to silence him when he started discussing the upcoming election during public comment.

“They have a rule that you can’t talk about the election at the city council meeting,” Wassberg said. “So I tried to talk. I was talking over him, and then all of a sudden, man, that officer, he just yelled, You can’t be saying that. This guy jumped out of his chair, ran over to me, kind of shoved me out of the way.”

That interaction, along with the rest of the council meeting, was recorded. The video shows Wassberg at the podium telling Assistant Police Chief Tim Simmons he has freedom of speech.

“I said, hey, I got the right to speak. He goes, No, you don’t. Then he got in my face again, and I had a few words with him,” Wassberg said. “Then another police officer told me I had to leave. So he escorted me out.”

On Thursday, Wassberg filed a police report and plans to file a complaint on Monday. He said he was looking for a lawyer after several people told him he should file a lawsuit.

“That was a physical assault, and then he said I didn’t have the right to speak. That was a violation of the First Amendment under the Constitution,” Wassberg said. “Under the Brown Act, you have the right to talk about anything you want on the open forum, as long as it is not on the agenda.”

“If they don’t like what you say, they’ll go ahead and shut you down right in the middle of your conversation,” Wassberg said.

According to Simmons, who posted on social media, this is nothing new. Officers have escorted people out of chambers over the years based on the mayor’s order and in compliance with the Richmond Municipal Code.  

“At this particular city council meeting, the mayor requested help in removing this particular individual who was being boisterous and loud and disrupting the peace and the order of the city council. The mayor tried to stop him from electioneering and he refused to stop, therefore he was disrupting the peace and good order of the council,” Simmons wrote.

Richmond’s City Council Rules of Procedure and Order says City Council meetings are supposed to be a campaign-free zone.

“Election of individuals to the council or other office is not within the council’s subject matter jurisdiction, and speakers may not campaign for or against candidates for office at Council meetings,” the procedure reads.

David Loy, Legal Director for the First Amendment Coalition, said the First Amendment guarantees a right to speak out against the government. The government can’t shut people down because they don’t like what they say. 

“As long as they are within the general subject matter of the meeting, the fact that he uses profanity or says mean things is certainly not pleasant or civil, but the First Amendment is not a civility code,” Loy said. “When in doubt, err on the side of respecting freedom of speech.”

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