14 DAY TRIAL // Karen Wright, from Riverside County, California, was arrested one week ago for speaking for too long at the City Council meeting.
The woman is now facing misdemeanor charges, CBS Los Angeles reports, as she disrupted a public meeting. Riverside police handcuffed her after she refused to sit down, when her allotted three minutes were up. Wright, a council member, was reportedly fired up, and was commenting on a city sludge hauling contract.
Wright is a regular at Riverside City Council meetings, and was active at the meeting Tuesday night, speaking several times.
After her latest intervention, police tried to escort her outside, following her speech, but the woman stopped before exiting the hall and tried to go back to her seat.
Local newspaper Press Enterprise describes that witnesses believe the councilwoman was simply reaching for her purse, which had been left on her seat. She then addressed the council once more, complaining about the intervention by police officers.
“I would like you to quit the harassment with the police,” she said.
Wright was forced on her knees and arrested, before being accompanied out of the building.
“Can you see my wrists? You’re pulling and jerking on my wrists! [...] I cannot get up without putting my hands down!,” she complained.
Riverside Mayor Ron Loveridge has stated that this is the first time someone is arrested during a council meeting, and he is determined to not let that happen again. Loveridge has been the mayor of the town for 32 years, and has served as council chairman throughout all these years.
At the mayor's suggestion, Riverside will observe a new policy, according to which only the chairperson of the council, who is traditionally also the mayor of the town, can decide who will be arrested during council meetings.
The chief of police has agreed to the policy, even though this takes away court officers' rights to perform arrests during meetings.