A document from Richmond City Council President Michelle R. Mosby aims to ban Richmond’s favorite/least favorite noise maker, Chris Dorsey.
A document from Richmond City Council President Michelle R. Mosby aims to ban Richmond’s favorite/least favorite noise maker, Chris Dorsey.
For the uninformed, Chris Dorsey is the former owner of Happy Corner, owner of the worlds scariest dog (at least he was, I haven’t seen the dog in a while, but it had a mean face), a vocal anti-zionist (seriously, check out his facebook page, it reads like a far-right4dummies book), and generally burden on all things Richmond City Council (for better or worse).
He was physically removed from Council a number of times in the last year (from the letter):
September 8, 2014, President Samuels ordered your expulsion from the City Council meeting. This expulsion occurred during the citizen comment period when you were removed by police from Council chambers following a confrontation with members of City staff.
and again in Feb of this year (we mention it a bit here)….
on February 23, 2015, I ordered your expulsion a second time. This second expulsion occurred during the public hearing on Ordinance 2014-254 when you persisted in thrusting a video recording device into the face of members of the audience.
Here’s video of an incident involving Dorsey from 4/14 in which he claims he was being “kidnapped” by police –
In the letter made public by Style Weekly’s Ned Oliver last night via twitter, Mosby said Dorsey had the chance to appeal both of his recent expulsions from council, this new 6-month ban is a reaction to what seems to be his lack of interest in the democratic process.
“Your conduct at these two meetings prevented the City Council from efficiently running these public meetings without undue disruption,” President Mosby wrote.
“Accordingly, in my role as President of the Council pursuant to Rule IV(L) of the City Council’s Rules of Procedure, I hereby bar you from attendance at future meetings of the City Council for a period of six months beginning on the date of this letter.”
*slow clap*
The closest response I can find to Dorsey acknowledging the ban is a facebook post detailing a 3/11 attempt to enter Council and being chased out by cops.
Dorsey detailed the event below:
a man called chris dorsey discusses being chased out of Richmond City Council by cops brandishing their guns with Ned Oliver. Oliver informed dorsey that there was a letter written to dorsey with false allegations and a ban from Richmond City Council. dorsey states he was the one who had crimes carried out against him and there is always video verification of his claims.
While Dorsey has been a thorn in council’s side for some time, I’m not sure expelling him is really the answers – but that’s easy for me to say, I’ve not had to cover CC for a while (thanks interns!)
But Dorsey is a symptom of democracy – if you’re going to provide a forum for the public, then by god, provide it to any and everyone available – no matter how “disruptive” they might be.
Silencing his voice only feeds the flames of his (and his follower’s) dissent.
As I’ve said in nearly EVERY Dorsey story I’ve had the unfortunate pleasure of writing, no one wins when Dorsey is involved, and this is no exception.
And he’s certainly not the only outspoken, time-wasting, unflinching member of the public who deserves such a ban – while names escape me, it’s safe to safe Richmond City Council meetings are not far from what Parks and Rec imagined so many times, but with a lot more racial tension.
Dorsey can still appeal the ban – he’s just got to get a council person to ask for a motion for it… and then get council to vote to over turn Mosby’s original ban.
Good luck, bro.
