(Des Moines, IA) -- Protestors disrupted Monday's Des Moines City Council meeting, leading to the council to take a short recess to allow police officers to deal with a protestor who stood on a chair holding a sign and refused to get off the chair, disrupting the meeting. Officers were seen on the city's You Tube channel escorting several other protestors out of the Council Chambers. Protests have become a regular occurrence at Des Moines City Council meetings since the Council recently resumed in-person meetings.
Prior to the start of the meeting, Mayor Cownie read the city's policy regarding the disruption of the meetings.
We welcome the germane comments from the general public at the appropriate time but this is a Council business meeting and the Council needs to conduct the people's business, and the Council has rules that are validly adopted under Iowa law and those rules will be followed. Anyone engaging in disruptive conduct in the Council Chambers or Great Hall will be ordered to leave the building and denied readmittance for the remainder of the day. No person will be permitted to stand in the council chamber during council sessions between the audience seats and the councilmembers except the persons addressing the council at the speakers microphone and only after being recognized by the mayor.
All persons desiring to address the council may do so only when recognized by the mayor, but the council reserves the right to limit the speaker's time and the order in which speakers may address the council. Under code 2-70 of the City Code it is illegal to interrupt any person who is addressing the council except by a council member and it is illegal to disrupt the Council meeting.
Everyone in attendance has First Amendment rights and any disruptive conduct by one person or group impinges on the rights of others present, so disruptive conduct will not be tolerated.
If the meeting is disrupted, the public speaking portion of the meeting may be moved to the next in-person meeting which is not disrupted.
Those who disrupt the the meeting will not be called on during the meeting, will be ordered to leave the building and may be cited or arrested for disorderly conduct, trespass, or interfering with the good order of the meeting or other applicable charges.