A Bangor City Councilor rebuked white supremacist attacks that disrupted Monday’s council meeting, and went so far as to raise his middle finger at an audience member.
For the third time in two weeks, a public commenter likely using a fake name joined a city meeting via Zoom to espouse hate speech. In response, Councilor Joe Leonard raised his middle finger and threw a pen after denouncing the comments.
This was the latest heated meeting for the council, which many community members say is becoming increasingly divisive. The former council chair resigned abruptly in September, citing personal attacks, and some councilors have said they believe hateful comments at recent meetings are a symptom of spreading extremism nationwide.
The altercation also comes at a moment of transition, with two longtime councilors departing and three new ones set to join after the Nov. 4 election.
One candidate known for promoting white supremacy and neo-Nazism was at the center of Monday’s spectacle, and the outcome of next week’s election could push the council further into disarray.
A speaker who joined the meeting on Zoom encouraged attendees to vote for that candidate, Richard Ward, and was quickly called out of order since speaking in support of political candidates is against Bangor’s public comment policy.
The speaker then thanked immigration and customs enforcement for “protecting our white communities,” called immigrants “savages,” encouraged attendees to visit an antisemitic, white supremacist website that is run by a neo-Nazi organization and concluded by declaring “white f—king power.”
Leonard interjected to denounce the comments, speaking over Council Chair Rick Fournier.
“All the hate mongers out there … you people are not welcome in our city,” Leonard said before throwing a pen and raising his middle finger at Ward, who was in attendance.
Later on in the meeting, the same speaker seemingly left the Zoom meeting and rejoined under a different name, speaking again during a discussion around a zoning change for Needlepoint Sanctuary, a local syringe service provider.
After making a comment insinuating that drug users should be left to die, the speaker named Leonard and called him a homophobic slur.
“I’m not going to apologize for voicing my hatred of hate speech,” Leonard said at the end of the meeting. “If you are on the side of defending Nazis, guess what? You’re on the wrong side of history and you need to wake up.”
Not everyone in attendance felt Leonard’s conduct was justified.
Another candidate running for City Council, James Gallagher, spoke during the meeting and argued Leonard should be permanently removed from his seat.
“I feel threatened by thinking differently than Councilor Leonard,” Gallagher said.
Fournier also said Tuesday he felt Leonard’s reaction was inappropriate.
“I’d expect more of a councilor,” he told the Bangor Daily News.
Leonard stood by his actions, telling the BDN on Tuesday, “I will also not apologize for flipping off a Nazi. Anyone who is offended that I flipped off a Nazi that was doing hate speech in our city hall, I don’t care about your opinions.”
Leonard has been reprimanded for his conduct at council meetings in the past, including with two official censures disavowing his behavior.
“I know I can be viewed as a bombastic person. I know that there are some people who don’t like that I go about politics the way that I do,” he said. “But I refuse to accept any criticism over denouncing and defying Nazism.”
He also linked the rhetoric by recent public commenters to the tone of national politics. “When people see the racist, bigoted actions of our president, it makes them feel empowered to do hateful, bigoted things. … Richard Ward is a symptom of a greater systemic issue in America.”
The language used on Monday was similar to comments made at last week’s Planning Board meeting, the previous council meeting and a meeting in July when Ward used a homophobic slur.
“It’s week after week, the same rhetoric. And it really has little to do with what we’re doing at the city level a lot of the time,” Councilor Susan Deane told the BDN.
Deane proposed earlier this month that councilors consider adjusting their public comment policy in response to the spate of hateful comments, but the council won’t make any changes until after the three new members are elected, according to Fournier.
Leonard also said he thinks the offensive language has gotten so out of hand that the council should impose some limitations on Zoom comments, potentially by only allowing speakers to join at the beginning of the public comment period to stop them from leaving and re-entering.
Although he said he doesn’t like the thought of imposing any limitations, “We owe it to our community to help them feel safe, and we can do that by having stricter guidelines that punish these bad faith actors.”
