A man who reportedly calls himself “Mr. Watchdog” was thrown out of the Carlsbadistan City Council Meeting on Tuesday June 22, 2010 after he apparently referred to the Carlsbad Police Department’s handing of homeless people as “bullshit,” according to a story in the San Diego Reader.
Mr. Watchdog was the first citizen to address the council. He claimed that Carlsbad police are harassing homeless people, especially those living in their vehicles. He asserted that police accuse the homeless of camping illegally when, in fact, they’re trying to keep a roof over their heads. . . Mr. Watchdog didn’t get much further on this point after saying the policing approach was “bullsh-t.” Mayor Claude “Bud” Lewis interrupted. A courtroom officer approached the speaker and stood next to him. “I have three minutes. What is this? Show me the law that says cussing is illegal,” he yelled as the officer escorted him out. “You’re done,” said Lewis, to which Mr. Watchdog responded, “Okay, another lawsuit. Thank you.” As he was led out, he said “f— you” multiple times.
Now the man claims he is going to file a lawsuit.
The City should certainly take this seriously. A similar case in Santa Cruz, California in which homeless advocate Robert Norse was removed from council chambers in 2002 for giving the mayor a Nazi salute resulted in a free speech lawsuit that is currently being heard in a federal appeals court and could end up in the Supreme Court.
[Link: San Diego Reader and LA Times]
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Apparently these people are going around to local city councils and raising huge fusses like this at meetings, complaining about the police. And then threaten to sue. It’s kind of like the guy who goes around finding any type of non-compliance with the ADA act and he goes and sues small businesses, becoming rich in the process. I think Lewis has often been guilty of not letting people talk, but fools like “Mr Watchdog” disrupt any real business going on at the council meetings. I hope this doesn’t become a trend, because jerks like this ruin it for the rest of us, who need to be able to talk about open space, etc at the meetings!