Swatting the City Hall gadflies

Re “Free speech — or a threat?” editorial, May 20

I remember more than 20 years ago listening to a sociology professor from George Washington University speak about our American institutions being in crisis. He said Americans once agreed what the “rules” were, even though they might not have always followed them. However, now (in 1993) many Americans don’t even agree what the rules are.

Wayne Spindler, the gadfly at the Los Angeles City Council who was arrested for submitting a racist comment that was perceived to be a threat, can be seen as the poster boy for those wary of order and morality, while many of the rest are suspicious of liberty and permissiveness. Our society must have both order and autonomy to thrive.

I agree it is dangerous to criminalize speech that’s offensive; however, it is also dangerous to give individuals and groups free rein.

Before I retired I worked with young children for almost 40 years. We had only three rules: Take care of yourself, others and our school. We had values, autonomy and boundaries. We need to start taking care. Genie Saffren

Los Angeles

Peace Over Violence representatives, including

myself, attended the City Council meeting on April 20 for the city’s proclamation of the 17th annual Denim Day in L.A. to raise awareness of rape and sexual assault. Spindler was one of two individuals who took to the microphone, wearing a white Ku Klux Klan hood with a swastika etched on it.

For four minutes they used our presence as a platform to fulfill their own agenda and berate council members by name, with homophobic, sexually explicit and degrading language, clouding the message of Denim Day to support survivors of sexual violence.

These acts of hate speech bring no benefit to the community and no value to the movement to end sexual violence. Harmful behavior such as this left all of us feeling violated. My group supports measures to be taken to limit this dangerous and disruptive behavior. Patti Giggans Los Angeles The writer is executive director of Peace Over Violence.