'Trampling of 1st Amendment rights': GOP lawmaker calls police on man over anti-Trump hat
Image: Ron Adar / Shutterstock
One Republican state legislator in Wisconsin recently interrupted a committee hearing in order to remove a man from the room over an article of clothing.
The National News Desk (TNND) reported Thursday that Wisconsin State Assembly member Ron Tusler (R) called a hearing of the Assembly Judiciary Committee into recess after one witness who was in line to testify on legislation was seen wearing a hat that read "F--- Trump Viva Mexico." Democratic Assembly member Ryan Clancy confirmed in a social media post that Tusler asked Wisconsin Capitol Police to remove the man from the hearing.
“In response to wearing a hat that he found ‘offensive,’ Rep. Ron Tusler just called the police to have a someone removed rather than hearing his testimony,” Clancy wrote. “Rep Tusler called a recess and left, and so did the Capitol Police when they showed up. The next item, appropriately, also deals with the trampling of first amendment rights.”
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Even police officers were hesitant to act on Tusler's request given that the man Tusler wanted escorted out was sitting quietly at the witness table, with one reportedly saying: "Can anyone tell me why we were called?"
Assemblywoman Sylvia Ortiz-Velez, who is the ranking member of the committee, accused Tusler of creating even more of a disturbance than the man who was wearing the controversial hat.
"The only disruption I have seen is you coming here when we could have continued with the testimony of this gentleman, it would have been less disruptive," Ortiz-Velez said.
Ortiz-Velez later told TNND that she "also believe[s] that the hat is protected by the First Amendment of our Constitution." And Article 1, Section 3 of the Wisconsin state constitution reads: "The right of the people peaceably to assemble, to consult for the common good, and to petition the government, or any department thereof, shall never be abridged."
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Click here to read TNND's full report.
