San Diego, CA – Caller after caller phoning in during public comment at Monday’s San Diego City Council meeting essentially hijacked the forum, making explosively racist, antisemitic and homophobic remarks. Councilmembers wasted no time in denouncing these hate-filled remarks made by a number of commenters, many of whom seemed to not even live in San Diego.
“The comments were vile,” said Councilmember Stephen Whitburn. “There were racist slurs, antisemitic slurs, homophobic slurs. In the three years I’ve sat on the City Council I have yet to see anything of that magnitude.”
Whitburn said he wants City Council meetings to be as accessible to San Diegans as possible. Public meeting comments made virtually via phone and Zoom became increasingly popular during the pandemic.
“We have tried to increase the accessibility of our meetings
“I could not believe the level they were taking it to,” said Councilmember Raul Campillo, adding that that the council took the steps it could at the time to try to reign in the hateful rhetoric.
“If a person breaks the rules of council we can end their speaking session at that moment, and they did that multiple times,” Campillo said.
City Council President Pro Tem Monica Montgomery Steppe repeatedly warned callers that all public comments had to pertain to City matters. She later issued a statement on behalf of the entire council to denounce the conduct, which said in part that “there is no space for hate speech and violent misinformation in our city.”
“We are taking this very seriously,” said Fabienne Perlov, Regional Director of the San Diego office of the Anti-Defamation League, the world’s leading anti-hate organization.
The ADL recently issued a report on how extremists are co-opting public meetings on a national level.
On Monday, a similar scene played out at a city council meeting in Portland, Maine.
“This is an organized effort to spread hateful messages and beliefs,” Perlov told CBS 8. “They have hijacked public meetings across the country, in Florida, California, a couple incidents in Sacramento.”
To read this recent report by the Anti-defamation League, click here.
“We’re going to take every step that we legally can to protect our workers at the City Council, to protect our citizens in our community, to make sure they aren’t victims of what comes next,” Campillo added.
Here is the City Council’s full statement:
“As one of the most diverse councils in San Diego’s history, we speak in solidarity that there is no space for hate speech and violent misinformation in our city. While we welcome all people of the public to participate in City Council, we condemn participation that introduces outright hateful language against race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or any further identities that make up our region.
The communities represented in San Diego are diverse and vibrant and have dedicated countless contributions to our city’s well-being. As Council members who represent these communities, we have the monumental task of conducting city business with integrity and respect while committing to protect all people without disruptive racism and bigotry. We fully denounce the use of these harmful comments in any Council meeting.”
San Diego City Council Member Marni von Wilpert (District 5) also issued this statement to CBS 8:
“There is no place for racist, misogynist, anti-Semitic, nor hate speech of any kind in the City of San Diego. I am committed to robust public participation in our Council meetings, but we cannot allow racist, offensive, and profane hate speech to disrupt our proceedings; we cannot allow our public platforms to be abused. These attacks are an affront to our values and inclusive sensibilities, and they will not be tolerated.”