Ward 4 Riverside Councilman Paul Davis responded to The Truth Publication an inquiry about the incident involving public speaker Karen Wright. He was at the dais then and witnessed the whole episode.
 |
COUNCILMAN PAUL DAVIS: Exclusive
comments about the handcuffing of Public
Speaker Karen Wright that he witnessed. |
Salvador, nice to hear from you. I hope that your health is getting better, and you
can join us again soon.
Thank you for the inquiry and your interest in the occurrence with
Ms. Karen Wright at the November 23, 2012 daytime and evening Council
Meetings. I must preface this response
with a statement that I do not condone nor condemn the actions of either Ms.
Wright or the Police officer(s) involved.
I am simply to relay what I saw and heard, prior to and after this
unfortunate incident.
During the afternoon session of the Council Meeting and in most
prior meetings, Ms. Wright had consistently disregarded the rules of conduct and
had been previously warned that her continued actions will not be
tolerated. Since Ms. Wright has a clear
issue with authority and believes that no rules apply to her, she has taken it
upon herself to discover how far she can push the limits of the rules
established and administered by the Mayor.
This occasion was no different with a few real serious
exceptions. During the evening session of
the Riverside City Council Meeting, Ms. Wright had spoken and her time limit had
expired. During her speaking period she
was as she normally had been, very outspoken, which I support her ability to say
what she wants exercising her First Amendment Rights. However, after her time had expired and the
Mayor had Thanked her for speaking, telling her that her time had expired, she
proceeded to become rather louder and even more belligerent and engage the Mayor
in a less than cordial manner.
After less
than a minute of her continuing her rant, an officer approached her and asked
her to calm down and to have a seat. She
disregarded the officers request and proceeded to march towards the area where
the City Management Staff sits, stating that she was going to put in her
speaking cards, for the speech she just gave, into the bin. Which, under the rules, is to be submitted
prior to speaking and she never does, since Ms. Wright states that she keeps her
notes upon herself and needs them to speak.
The
officer again told her that she needs to be calm, take her seat and she ignored
him. At that time, the officer directed
her to return to her seat and Ms. Wright turned and began to advance towards
where she had been sitting. Ms. Wright
then uttered some choice words to the officer, which may have been directed
towards the council. He then told her to
step outside, since she was clearly disrupting the meeting and she chose to
continue to ignore him. The officer then
took her right arm at the elbow and told her that she needs to accompany him
outside. Ms. Wright then jerked her arm
away from the officer, stating something to the effect that she needed to get
her things and for him not to touch her.
At that time she also decided to sit down, on the floor, just outside the
Dais entrance door and near her seat, with her hands not visible from my vantage
point. Ms. Wright began to holler that
her rights are being violated and would not comply with the officers orders to
stand up and exit the meeting chambers.
During that time the officer applied handcuffs to Ms. Wright and later
took them off, after assisting Ms. Wright to her feet. She was then led outside where she was cited
for her disrupting a public meeting. Ms.
Wright later returned to the chambers, but a slight change in her
demeanor.
Many have asked why the members of the Mayor, Council, or city
Staff, did not take any actions to stop the officer from his actions. As a matter of law, no person has the
authority to interfere with the lawful order or actions of a Police Officer
performing his duties. By doing so, you
would be in violation and you will be held for Obstruction of Justice, and be
subject to severe penalty. If the officer
felt that he observed her not complying with the established rules of a Public
Meeting and after being warned, that person fails to comply, he has the
authority to take the appropriate actions he feels necessary to resolve the
issue before him. In this case, he did
so, and no person has the authority to tell him otherwise and would not be
appropriate to do so. The officers
Captain was present and involved with the situation, during the entire
incident. If that officer acted outside
the scope of his authorities, then it is incumbent upon the Internal Affairs and
Police Chief to effect the necessary corrections.
We as
the elected body, do not have any authority to get involved in any way, by State
Law and the Charter of this city. Ms.
Wright has and will enjoy the ability to speak her mind at any Public Meeting
and I will always support this. However,
to maintain decorum and civility, the rules that have been established must be
adhered to. Ms. Wright is aware of this,
as I have personally, spoken to her about her conduct at past Council and other
meetings, Public and otherwise. She
chooses to ignore such pleads to maintain composure and decorum and carry on in
the manner she does. Unfortunately for
Ms. Wright, on this occasion, the officer felt that she had clearly stepped
beyond the established line and took the actions he felt was
necessary.
I hope
this helps you to understand the incident and actions taken last Tuesday and
look to you for your comments and this situation. This is simply my
recollection of the events and may not be shared as the same from
others.
Paul
Davis
Council member - Ward 4
City
of Riverside.
______________________________________
CURIOUS STATISTICS REPORTED BY BLOGGER: This edition has had so far 357 hits in the U.S., 34 in Russia, 17 in China, 11 in Sweden, 4 in Mexico, 3 in Germany, 3 in South Africa, 2 in Spain, 2 in France, 2 in the United Kingdom. (!!!!!!!!). This report has greatly surprised us. The Truth is getting more than 3,000 hits every month.
______________________________________
"I have a question for Mr. Davis. If the city council thinks what happened was officer-initiated and appropriate behavior then why did the mayor tell the Los Angeles Times that the city government is changing that policy and having an expulsion at the discretion of the city council/mayor and not the police? I think the city's preparing its defense and the first thing it does is find city employees to throw under the bus." --- Mary Shelton, Five Before Midnight.
CLICK ON "OLDER POSTS" AT THE BOTTOM RIGHT OF THE PAGES, TO SEE THE NEXT ONES.
