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Racists remarks flood Charlottesville City Council meeting

JASON ARMESTO The Daily Progress 1 hr ago

Monday’s Charlottesville City Council meeting was marred by explicit racism and antisemitism, when white supremacists joined public comment via Zoom. ... “You can’t cut me off. It’s called the First Amendment,” said the first speaker of the night after using a racial slur.

“Actually, it is protected by the First Amendment, unfortunately,” Mayor Lloyd Snook said. ... For more than a minute, the speaker used racist slurs and parroted an antisemitic conspiracy theory, drawing anger from the members of the public attending the meeting who demanded council cut the speaker off.

Snook then looked to city attorney Jacob Stroman. ... “Mr. City Attorney, are we allowed to cut this off?” Snook asked. ... “Yes sir,” Stroman answered. ... The speaker was then muted, but not before exclaiming, “Heil Hitler. White power.” ... Explaining why the council was within its rights to cut off the speaker, Stroman said to council that “the gross insult” to community members was unacceptable, “even under the broadest interpretation of the First Amendment.”

The hours following were without incident until the final minutes of the meeting, when multiple people used Zoom to repeat antisemitic and racist conspiracies and slurs.

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Jason Armesto (717) 599-8470

jarmesto@dailyprogress.com

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