Tense Moments At Sacramento City Council Meeting As Protester Removed
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - There were tense moments inside Tuesday's Sacramento city council meeting as a protester was kicked out and the meeting ended abruptly, cutting off public comment.
This came the same day the council was supposed to consider possibly banning disruptive protestors from attended the meetings altogether.
Mark Jackson was removed went going over his two-minute time limit. He said the move by city council was unfair.
"Using his first amendment rights and they didn't like what he was saying," said Jackson.
Frustrations and disruptions have been boiling over at Sacramento City council meetings since the police shooting death of Stephon Clark.
In April, Clark's brother Stevante jumped onto the dais, blocking Sacramento's Mayor Darrell Steinberg. Since then, several protestors have been escorted out by the police.
"It's coming from a place of emotion where people are hurt," said protestor John Darian.
Just hours before Tuesday's heated meeting, the city was set to discuss a possible ban on unruly and disruptive protestors, but the item was pulled.
"They don't want us to speak up, they don't want us to say anything, they don't want us to call them out," said Darian.
Assistant City Manager Chris Conlin is with Sacramento's Office of Public Safety, a department to help bridge the gap between the community and police. He says he understands people's pain but says order must be kept.
"Essentially, they went over time limits and started yelling at other people in the audience. Really, that's not what we want to have happening at a public discourse like this," said Conlin.
By the end of Tuesday's meeting, there was another explosion between the public that was big enough to send everyone home, as Vice Mayor Steve Hansen abruptly adjourned the meeting.
There's no word when the city council will revisit discussions about a possible ban of unruly and disruptive protestors.