A gunman opened fire at a suburban St. Louis city council meeting Thursday night, killing five people and injuring two more before he was killed by police.
Ten days ago,
a judge denied an attempt by the gunman-to-be to sue the city over a First Amendment complaint.
And in an odd twist of timing, only hours before the shooting
the lawsuit was explored in an online article on free speech at public meetings.
The article, published by the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University, said:
A federal judge in Missouri has rejected the First Amendment claims of a man removed from Kirkwood City Council meetings for "repetitive, personal, virulent attacks" against council members.
Charles Lee Thornton had sued the city of Kirkwood after he was arrested twice (and later convicted) for disorderly conduct at two council meetings in 2006.
In May 2006, Thornton had the opportunity to speak during the public-comment portion of a council meeting that addressed the expansion of two businesses -- a funeral home and a senior living facility. During the time reserved to discuss the funeral home, Thornton rose to speak about what he alleged was personal harassment of him by city officials, not the expansion of the business. He displayed a large poster with a picture of a donkey and made intemperate remarks about the mayor. Thornton then warned the funeral home owner that the city had a "plantation-mentality" and "jackass-like qualities."
Thornton engaged in similar conduct after the presentation about the senior living center. He said the mayor was "sitting there looking stupid." The mayor eventually ordered Thornton to leave the podium and called the police. When the police came to the podium, Thornton sat on the floor and refused to leave. He was arrested and later convicted of disorderly conduct. He has appealed his conviction to a state appeals court.
Similar events occurred at a June 2006 City Council meeting. During the public-comment portion, Thornton was allowed to speak, at which point he began: "Jackass, jackass, jackass … ." Eventually the mayor asked the police to remove Thornton, who again sat on the floor. Once again he was arrested and convicted of disorderly conduct.
Thornton later filed a federal lawsuit, contending that his First Amendment rights had been violated. U.S. District Judge Catherine D. Perry disagreed in her Jan. 28, 2008, opinion in Thornton v. City of Kirkwood. ...
"As the meeting was a limited designated public forum, Kirkwood had the right to restrict the topic of discussion to the expansion of two businesses," Perry wrote. Rather than addressing germane subject matter, “Thornton engaged in personal attacks against the mayor, Kirkwood, and the city council."
This entire sequence of events represents far too many council...
