KALAMAZOO, MI — Trolls temporarily derailed the Kalamazoo City Commission’s first virtual meeting, shouting profanity and causing commissioners to limit public comment during a portion of the meeting.

The Kalamazoo City Commission met virtually for a special meeting on Tuesday, March 31, adhering to guidelines to limit gatherings to help slow the spread of the coronavirus.

The commission opened the public comment portion of the meeting on the Zoom internet platform, receiving comments filled with profanity, causing Mayor David Anderson to pause the meeting to talk about how to handle the issue.

“Unlike when you’re in the city commission chambers, you can be totally anonymous,” Anderson said. He called the comments “pretty profoundly inappropriate and unfriendly to say the least."

Commissioners asked the person or persons giving the comments to stop.

After more inappropriate comments, commissioners approved a measure to stop taking comments from the public on action items. However, the city allowed more comments at a general comment period toward the end of the meeting.

The disruptions came before commissioners approved a resolution authorizing the city to conduct commission meetings by electronic means during a declared statewide or local state of emergency, and under the terms of an Executive Order suspending portions of the Open Meetings Act.

Related: Michigan Gov. Whitmer suspends Open Meetings Act during coronavirus crisis to allow virtual meetings by government bodies

During discussion, Anderson asked Attorney Clyde Robinson for his thoughts on how to handle the issues coming up with the virtual format.

“I don’t have an answer quite frankly,” Robinson said, about how to deal with racist and sexist comments given.

Robinson outlined the issues between the Open Meetings Act, which requires the government to allow public participation, and the First Amendment.

There is no room for hate speech, he said.

“Unfortunately, one of the drawbacks of going online is you get, I guess the word is trolls, people who will log onto a meeting to...not be serious in their comments,” Robinson said.

Commissioners talked about the possibility of discontinuing public comment at the meeting, but chose not to do that.

Disruptive comments continued in the general comment period later in the meeting, along with some on-topic comments from local residents.

As disruptions persisted, some containing profane and offensive language, discussion of the issue continued among commissioners. Vice Mayor Patrese Griffin and Commissioner Chris Praedel advocated for allowing the rest of the people already in line to comment, about 16 at the time, and ending the public comment period afterward.

Ultimately, Anderson agreed to limit the comment period to the remaining 16 waiting, on advice from the city attorney.

Commissioners talked about possible solutions for future meetings, such as taking comments in a different format, or a time-delay option to play recorded comments.

“I think there’s a way to get through this, I just don’t want us to get too discouraged,” Commissioner Jack Urban said at the end of the meeting.

A March 30 statement posted by the FBI warns of “Zoom-bombing.”

“As large numbers of people turn to video-teleconferencing (VTC) platforms to stay connected in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, reports of VTC hijacking (also called “Zoom-bombing”) are emerging nationwide. The FBI has received multiple reports of conferences being disrupted by pornographic and/or hate images and threatening language,” the FBI Boston Division said in the news release.

Also on Tuesday, the Kalamazoo City Commission voted to allocated $2 million in Foundation for Excellence money to establish a fund to help support small businesses impacted by coronavirus.

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