Watch: Town Council Kicks Man Out of Meeting After He Waves American Flag

Well, you certainly can’t blame the fine folks on the city council of Edison, New Jersey, for lack of effort in trying to make the national news. If only that were a good thing.

In a viral video of comments made before the council, Edison resident Joel Bassoff, a lawyer, was kicked out of a meeting for using the U.S. Constitution and an American flag as “props” to make a point, according to MyCentralJersey.com.

Council President Nishith Patel threw him out of the meeting — which, not coincidentally, was in part to curb the use of “props” in remarks before the council.

Residents were none too pleased with the proposal.

“To consider the American flag and the Constitution a prop when someone raises it is an insult to what the flag is, what the flag stands for and what this country is,” Maryann Hennessey said in her remarks.

“For you to consider the use of the American flag a prop is disgusting.”

Of note, MyCentralJersey reported that the council of the Middlesex County town, a suburb of New York City, was looking to curb what it called “often-raucous meetings” of the council by reducing speaking time and eliminating props.

Bassoff, however, said in his remarks during the five-hour Nov. 25 meeting that “the council wants to slash the public’s speaking time because the comments often focus on a concern or complaint about wasteful spending, quality-of-life issues or a public safety issue the mayor and his administration have failed to address.

“Bassoff said he objected to the council’s attempt to ‘gag’ the public and tore up a copy of the ordinance and argued the U.S. Constitution gives the public the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances and every member of the council took an oath to uphold the Constitution.”

Council president Nishith Patelk then said that the prop was in violation of council rules and that he was forfeiting his time.

“He is in violation, he can be removed,” Patel said.

Bassoff had also held up an American flag, noting that by stopping residents from such displays, the council risked legal action.

“I’m holding up an American flag to represent the constitutional values,” he said.

“It’s my constitutional right to do this,” Bassoff continued. “If you get sued, you will lose. My suggestion to you is that you get a second opinion from competent counsel because you are wrong.”

As residents clapped, Patel instructed officers to have the man “removed.”

“I’m ready to sit here quietly, and I will not interfere with your decorum – so I have a right to be here,” Bassoff said.

Fox News reported the meeting was then put into a five-minute recess so that Bassoff could be ejected.

Resident kicked out of town council in Edison, NJ for literally holding up a US Constitution pic.twitter.com/0kVop8nxPe

— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) December 3, 2024

The prop ordinance doesn’t specifically mention either the Constitution or the U.S. flag, but Patel said that “any props will be considered not conducive to good order and as the president, I am making that call.”

Bassoff wasn’t the only person unhappy with the council’s decisions.

“One woman said it was unfair that while council members can speak as long as they want, residents are limited in their time to speak,” MyCentralJersey reported.

“Resident Sue Malone-Barber said she’s upset with the council’s attempt to control the public, when the disruptions are only caused by some people coming to the meetings. She said the council meetings have become ‘a three-ring circus.’

“She said the council and mayor are ‘hellbent’ on controlling the public which is ‘ludicrous, rude and juvenile’ and will only make meetings worse.”

“Residents won’t forget how they were made to feel and how things were handled,” she said. “Flags, really a prop, you going to throw me out?”

Pretty much! As we’ve seen in meetings like this across the country, elected officials don’t want to be answerable to the public just so long as they get the votes necessary to retain their position. Anything more and they’d just rather not be bothered.

Are there cranks and curmudgeons who show up to these meetings? All the time! Welcome to America! I don’t know whether John Bassoff is one of them, although I do know that he seems to be making a relative amount of sense here by reminding the council citizens have the opportunity to “petition the Government for a redress of grievances,” as stated in the First Amendment.

Did anyone involved in throwing this guy out think they were making a good career or electoral move? Did they think that, in the digital age, this wasn’t going to be a viral thing? Well, now it is, with the Constitution video alone on the @EndWokeness X account garnering over 432,000 views in less than 24 hours after it was published on Monday.

And yes, Edison meetings have gotten weird in the past; as WKXW-FM reported after the November meeting that an Oct. 9 gathering saw “at least two men [who] wore Guy Fawkes or ‘Anonymous’ style face masks, while a third often wore a full wrestler’s mask.

“A fourth man was dressed as a giant cannabis bong, cradling a baby doll dressed in a similar costume.”

However, one resident reportedly said this was the doing of “a handful of disruptive individuals,” as per the station. So where they decided to really draw the line was … the lawyer with the Constitution and American flag “props.”

I’m sure this will end well for them.

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