Local

Citizen gets kicked from City Council meeting

SALISBURY, N.C. — The Salisbury mayor threw a citizen out during a City Council meeting this week.

Mayor Karen Alexander pounded her gavel and even told the woman to “shush” and that she wouldn’t be allowed to speak if she was lying.

That citizen told reporter Tina Terry that she believes her First Amendment rights were violated.

“Last City Council meeting, I was once again the victim of having my constitutional rights violated," Carolyn Logan told Terry.

“Excuse me, you are out of order,” the mayor told Logan at the council meeting.

“How am I out of order?” Logan asked the mayor.

“You're out of order because you are saying things that are not true Ms. Logan,” Alexander said.

Logan said she came to the meeting to share her concern about recent crime.

She wanted to talk about the last meeting when she said council tried to block her from speaking, which is something she says happens often.

“If you say anything the mayor doesn't like, you're out of line," Logan said.

Things have never gone this far, Logan said.

The city attorney said the city is allowed by law to create rules for public comment.

A city spokesperson said Logan has been called out in the past for breaking Rule 9 which mandates speakers be courteous and refrain from personal attacks.

Kathleen Nicolaides teaches legal studies at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte and said the council is permitted to remove someone for willful disruption.

After watching the video, she said it's difficult to tell whether council was in the right.

“A government body they're not the ministry of truth,” Nicolaides said. “They cannot suppress someone's content."

Read more top trending stories on wsoctv.com:

Cox Media Group

Most Read