SARATOGA SPRINGS — Wearing T-shirts that read “Jim Montagnino Your Racism is Showing #ThePeoplesMeeting,” about a dozen Black Lives Matter activists appeared at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting to call out the public safety commissioner for charging Chandler Hickenbottom with disorderly conduct for talking too long at a February meeting.
Their clothing expressed their disapproval of Montagnino’s actions, which also included asking a judge for an order of protection from Hickenbottom, which was denied Tuesday morning in City Court. But that was just the start. The early part of the meeting had activists speaking out harshly against Montagnino, calling him a fascist, dangerous and a misogynist.
“I want to thank Chandler Hickenbottom who like Black women centuries before her for put her body on the line to speak truth to power,” said Diogenes Kaufman who was one of the first to speak at the microphone. “You filed charges during Black History Month against a Black woman who wanted accountability for police murders of Black men including here in Saratoga. And now during Women’s History Month you attempt to use a legal apparatus often sought by victims of domestic and intrapartners violence against a Black woman for speaking. … I find this particularly disgusting.”
She, like others, also thanked Mayor Ron Kim and other commissioners for renouncing Montagnino’s legal moves. She also asked him to “step down and go home.”
Others spoke out against Montagnino too, saying he is “using his position for punishing a Black woman for speaking out.” Resident Julie Lewis told the council to move on the plan to implement police reforms in order to restore community trust. Another resident, Heather Reynolds, who used to sit on the city’s Board of Education, told Montagnino that it is his job to sit there and listen.
“I invite you to do more…
Read the full article here