Iowa City Council denounces racist public comments made during council meeting

IOWA CITY -- The city of Iowa City on Thursday denounced antisemitic and racist remarks that were made during the public comment portion Tuesday’s City Council meeting.

The city said in a statement that the speakers had “entered the forum remotely to spread their hate, fear, and ignorance.”

Iowa City Mayor Bruce Teague started the council meeting with a statement about the complexities of the war between Israel and Hamas, and asking those present to join him in a moment of silence for those affected by the conflict.

“The loss of life, the violence, the terror is too much to comprehend. Our hearts go out to all of those that are impacted,” Teague said. “To all those in and around Iowa City that are impacted more directly, we stand with you.”

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A couple minutes after Teague’s statement, the public was invited to comment on anything that was not listed on the council’s agenda. Multiple people who had joined the meeting online spoke during the public comment period about racist and antisemitic conspiracy theories and viewpoints. Some speakers gave full names, while other speakers identified by only a first name.

The first speaker, identified as Matthew North, spoke about the “Great Replacement Theory,” espoused by white supremacist groups. A couple of callers spoke after North, both stating they hadn’t planned on speaking but felt the need to condemn the comments. They were followed by other speakers who agreed with North’s views.

“That was some pretty out-there, racist stuff, and I would appreciate Iowa City remaining and making progress on becoming a more inclusive community,” said Justin Comer, the speaker following North. “People from all backgrounds, from all over the world, should be more than welcome here. They should be celebrated for being part of this community.”

Another speaker, identified only as Anna, agreed with Comer, stating, “I’m happy to live in such a diverse community myself, and I hope all council members publicly denounce this racist and antisemitic language.”

City Council response

During the City Council information portion of the agenda, at the end of the meeting, council member Laura Bergus spoke in response to the racist comments made earlier.

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“Some harm happened here tonight with some words that we heard at the beginning of our meeting, and I think it’s important to just remember that as leaders we have made commitments to upholding and promoting racial equity, social justice and human rights,” Bergus said.

The city released an statement Thursday denouncing the callers’ remarks as hate speech. The city statement said that each of the speakers were given the standard three minutes to share their thoughts because city leadership “understands that free speech is a constitutional right.”

“Despite their brazen and vile commentary, our community should know that our city stands firm in denouncing this hateful and ignorant rhetoric and condemns these actions and words that intend to degrade and divide,” the city statement said.

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