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Teacher arrested for repeatedly clapping in favor of data center opponents during city commission meeting (www.kcbd.com)

submitted 4 days ago by VetOfTheSeas@discuss.online to c/FuckTheUSA@lemmy.ca

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[–] captcha_incorrect@lemmy.world 13 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Commissioners warned those in attendance against disruptive behavior, including clapping, snapping or rude comments. Lux Claridge and several others clapped in support of speakers opposing the Flint Hills Digital Campus data center. After commissioners issued a final warning, Lux Claridge continued to clap, leading to his arrest.

I wasn't there and I have never been to a city meeting, how bad is it to ask for people to not clap? They did give him a final warning.

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 8 points 3 days ago

Demanding people not utilize their free speech? Yeah, that doesn't fly in a public meeting in America. It's kind of the point of the meeting.

The Council claimed that there were a lot of speakers, so they prohibited applause to save time. People clapped anyway, because Fuck You, it's in the Constitution. The Council got really mad, and started threatening. Then some people stopped clapping, snapping, etc., and started using deaf sign language and waving their hands. No noise, no interruptions, no impeding the flow of speakers, no slowing down the process.

The Council even got mad at that, which indicated that the didn't really want to stop applause for time considerations, they just didn't want those attending to be able to show support for each other, which is truly insidious.

When I was a band member in high school, we took on the school board because they did something unfair to the band, so we went to the school board meetings, where I personally looked at each member of the School Board, and told each one that they would lose their next election (except one who had two kids in the band, and was on our side).

The next election, the band hit the streets, knocked on doors, and all got replaced except our guy. We warned the School Board, and they responded disrespectfully, because we were ONLY students.

When the people go to the trouble of attending a meeting, writing a little speech, and confronting their fear of public speaking, they are dead serious, and you'd better listen to what they have to say. Or else.

[–] PineRune@lemmy.world 13 points 3 days ago (1 children)

How often do they tell people not to clap? If it's only for stuff like this then it's pretty telling what their motives are.

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 4 points 3 days ago

That request is common for things like graduation, where they don't want some grads to get huge responses from family, or friends, which interrupt the flow, and possibly leak over to the next grads moment. What if you get two or three grad families celebrating in a row, stepping on each other's celebrations, then they start arguing? Or it turns into a popularity contest, and some kids get wild applause while others get none? Or once they start applauding for some, they start booing at others?

You could see where it could get out of hand in a situation like that. But this is a public meeting, and the purpose is to allow people to speak their minds, and applauding in agreement is speech as well. Shutting down speech in a public government forum for speech is incongruous, inappropriate, and most of all ILLEGAL.

He will file a lawsuit, and win. I hope they pay off their house, go on a nice vacation, and still have enough to put in their retirement fund. And I hope every member of that council loses their seat.