Civil rights activists afraid a city council in Northern Colorado is trying to silence them with updated rules
A special session meeting of the Fort Collins City Council to discuss changing meeting rules is scheduled for Monday night. That meeting has civil rights activists afraid that the city council is trying to silence them.
On Tuesday, the scheduled Fort Collins City Council meeting barely got going when it was interrupted.
Protestors wanting the council to pass a resolution calling for a cease-fire in Gaza yelled at them and were glued to the wall, which led to a recess.
"Our city manager came out at some point and said, if everyone would like to respect the rules of the chamber, our proclivity is to continue with the meeting so that we can hear everyone who came to speak and we can get the business of the people done, too," said Fort Collins Mayor Jeni Arndt. "And that was not an option. And then a counselor came out later and tried to see if he could help restore some order. And that wasn't possible either."
She says the council decided to adjourn the meeting in the interest of safety.
Now, the council is considering allotting one hour for public comment that can be extended or continued later in the meeting. Allow the mayor, or council, to relocate a meeting to a digital platform and allow the council to limit public comment to only items scheduled on the agenda.
"So, that we can continue to do the work of the people and hear every single voice," said Arndt.
Shehab Elhaddad is part of the group working with the city council to pass a cease-fire resolution. He says the outbursts were out of frustration and he thinks these proposed rule changes are unfair.
"It really goes against the essence of freedom of speech in this country, which is what this country is founded on," said Elhaddad.
He also thinks it's an effort to silence the people supporting a cease-fire.
"There is an overwhelming amount of support in the community. And the city council have you know, they have stayed there numerous hours listening to public testimonies," said Elhaddad.
Arndt says this isn't an effort to silence anyone. They just want to make sure the council can work.
"Why would we be in public office if we wanted to shut out the public?" said Arndt.
Shehab Elhaddad says he is still holding onto what faith he has left in his elected leaders.
"I'm just really hopeful that Fort Collins City Council to do the right decision," he said.
NoCO Anti-Zionist Jews issued a statement saying in part:
As anti-Zionist Jews in Northern Colorado, it has been crucial for us to be vocal in this moment as we decry a genocide that is being carried out in the name of Jewish safety. Over the past few months, we have proudly raised our voices—as Jews—in advocating that Fort Collins City Council adopt a ceasefire resolution. We were heartbroken, along with hundreds of other advocates from diverse backgrounds, when City Council refused to even discuss such a resolution. Now, we are beyond frustrated that after the outpouring of community support, City Council has responded by discussing changes to rules and procedures that would severely limit public comment in the future. Limiting public comment in this manner is anti-democratic and limits the first amendment rights not only of concerned community members who have made it clear that a Ceasefire resolution is a local issue, but also the entire Fort Collins community."
Stop Antisemitism Colorado issued a statement in support of the Fort Collins City Council:
"There seems to be no end to the disruptive and disrespectful protests we're seeing week after week at city council meetings across the state. Protestors are bullying and doxxing council members, interrupting their remarks, and causing them to adjourn before they even get started. Their radical tactics are leaving city councils with no choice but to revisit their public comment rules so they can actually work on the problems they were elected to solve. Since Israel was attacked on October 7, there has been an unprecedented level of antisemitism, propaganda and disinformation, using the Israel-Hamas war to fan the flames of hatred towards the Jewish people. Ceasefire proclamations not only have no bearing on what is happening on the other side of the world, they take attention away from the real problems facing our communities. It's time to end this dangerous and divisive antisemitic activity cloaked in coded language and 'civil rights' and let human decency prevail."
