31 October 2023
DULUTH Antisemitic remarks made at Monday evening’s City Council meeting have city officials reconsidering how it should handle its public comment period going forward.
Toward the beginning of every council meeting, members of the public are offered an opportunity to speak on just about any subject of their choice for up to three minutes. This public comment opportunity has historically only been provided for people who show up in person to attend a council meeting.
But since the pandemic, when the council was temporarily unable to meet in person, the city has continued to offer a hybrid option for members of the public who wish to address the council: Appear in person or participate online.
That could be about to change, given Monday evening’s disturbing events that included three back-to-back calls from speakers intent upon making racist, antisemitic and at times profane comments that were carried live on radio and Public Access Television.
The first in the string of hate-speech calls came from a man who identified himself as Robert Bauers, a name eerily familiar to those who remember the identity of the individual convicted for the 2018 shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh that left 11 people dead. The caller defended Adolph Hitler and called on his compatriots to “expel all enemies of the white race.”
Council President Janet Kennedy interrupted the speaker to again state his identity and address, which he identified as 88 State St., an address that does not seem to exist in Duluth. She reminded him of the city’s “rules of civility,” which are meant to encourage respectful and inclusive behavior in council chambers. She allowed the individual to resume his commentary, advising him that he had one minute of time remaining.
The individual proceeded to cast doubt on the Holocaust, referring to it as the “holohoax,” and comparing Jews to “parasites taking over our country.”
At that, Kennedy cut him off again and moved on to the next speaker, who identified himself as Rudy Hess, again evoking the name of another prominent antisemite, Rudolf Hess, who served as deputy fuhrer to Hitler during World War II and was subsequently found guilty of multiple war crimes.
The second speaker in the string began to speak about immigration concerns, was interrupted by Kennedy and cautioned again to respect the council’s “tools of civility” and then resumed, expressing his indignation with the council. When Kennedy asked him if he wanted to get to his point, instead of simply castigating the council, the man let loose with a string of racist and antisemitic invective, as well as a call for “white power.”
A third speaker, who introduced himself as Sivan Kurzberg, began to voice concerns about Jewish rituals involving infant boys but was cut off as his commentary quickly veered into obscenely suggestive territory. Sivan Kurzberg is the name of an Israeli citizen briefly arrested in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. Conspiracy theorists contend he was part of a group responsible for the attacks.
The council then took a five-minute recess.
When it returned, at large Councilor Noah Hobbs questioned the wisdom of continuing to accept remote public comments now that the council has returned to in-person meetings.
“We haven’t had this used often by local residents to increase accessibility or by folks that haven’t already been in chambers with some level of frequency. So, there’s a lot of value that we derive from online testimony. It’s pretty rare that we’ve had a local resident talk about a local issue,” Hobbs said, expressing his desire to see the council discontinue accepting remote testimony.
At large Councilor Arik Forsman, who served as council president when the body returned to in-person meetings, said Monday night’s remote public commentary marked a new low. He explained that he initially had made the decision to allow for both in-person and remote public comments with the idea of increased participation and accessibility at a time when many people still felt uncomfortable meeting in large groups, even as the pandemic was beginning to ease.
Forsman said he believed it would be worthwhile for the council to revisit that decision. He commended Kennedy for her handling of the situation and suggested the council consider establishing clearer grounds to cut off public commentary, when necessary, in the future.
“But clearly, hate has no room in this chamber,” he said.
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