Dear Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor: Dude, I’m Still Waiting for My Criminal Charge!

Despite the fact I willfully and deliberately asked members of the audience to stand up during the February 7, 2006 meeting of the Costa Mesa City Council, no criminal charges were ever filed against me.

Despite the fact I engaged in "disruptive behavior" at the Tuesday, February 7, 2006 meeting of the Costa Mesa City Council, no criminal charges were ever filed against me.

 

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Mayor Allan Mansoor
Office of the Mayor
City of Costa Mesa
77 Fair Drive
Costa Mesa, CA  92626

Re: Jury verdict in Acosta vs. City of Costa Mesa, et. al.

Dear Mayor Mansoor:

I read with great interest a newspaper report regarding the decision of a jury yesterday to uphold your decision to have Coyotl Tezcatlipoca (aka, “Benito Acosta”) forcibly removed from the Tuesday, January 3, 2006 city council meeting after he asked members of the audience to quietly stand up.

According to an article entitled “Acosta loses civil case,” written by Joseph Serna, and published at the The Daily Pilot website on the evening of Monday, December 14, 2009, you were quoted as saying that “Today, free speech was upheld, and disruptive behavior was put in its place.”

But let’s get real. 

Despite the fact I too, like Tezcatlipoca, asked members of the audience to quietly stand up during public comments at the Tuesday, February 7, 2006 meeting of the Costa Mesa City Council, you never held me the slightest bit accountable for any “disruptive behavior” I engaged in that evening.

In fact, while the Costa Mesa City Prosecutor aggressively pursued criminal charges against Tezcatlipoca in Orange County Superior Court for “disrupting” a public meeting, I never received so much as the courtesy of a letter from him notifying me I could face possible jail time for what I did.

And understand that I did everything I possibly could to notify the city of my “criminal wrongdoing,” including sending you and other members of the Costa Mesa City Council an email containing an article I wrote “confessing” to my “disruptive behavior.” (Please see the highlighted text below)

Although I’m extremely disappointed that Tezcatlipoca was treated much differently than I was for engaging in the same kind of “disruptive behavior,” I’m confident the truth will prevail and “evildoers” like myself will be brought to justice. Dude, I’m still waiting for my criminal charge!

Sincerely,

DUANE J. ROBERTS
Anaheim, California

 

From Duane Roberts Thu Feb 16 00:06:12 2006
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Thu, 16 Feb 2006 00:06:12 PST
Date:     Thu, 16 Feb 2006 00:06:12 -0800 (PST)
From:     Duane Roberts <duaneroberts92804@yahoo.com>
Subject:  DUDE, WHERE’S MY CRIMINAL CHARGE?
To:       duaneroberts92804@yahoo.com
Bcc:      ldixon@ci.costa-mesa.ca.us, ebever@ci.costa-mesa.ca.us, kfoley@ci.costa-mesa.ca.us, amansoor@ci.costa-mesa.ca.us, gmonahan@ci.costa-mesa.ca.us

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Sunday, February 12, 2006

DUDE, WHERE’S MY CRIMINAL CHARGE?

Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor “thanks” me for asking
people in the audience to stand up

By DUANE J. ROBERTS
duaneroberts92804@yahoo.com
         
COSTA MESA, CA — At first, I wasn’t planning on
speaking at last Tuesday’s meeting of the Costa Mesa
City Council. But the temptation to do so was too
great for me to resist. So I plucked a pencil out from
my shirt pocket and quickly filled in all the blank
spaces on the little yellow card you must submit to
the City Clerk if you want to speak. After I finished,
I handed it over to her and patiently waited for my
name to be called. The moment arrived much sooner than
I expected.

“Is Duane here?” asked Mayor Allan Mansoor.

“Yes,” I responded.

I walked up to the podium, adjusted the microphone,
and began to introduce myself.

“Good evening,” I said. “My name is Duane Roberts. I’m
Chair of the Social Concerns Committee of the
Unitarian Universalist Church in Anaheim, which is
located at 511 S. Harbor Blvd. I’m also a member of
the Tonantzin Collective. I want to read the following
statement.”

I looked down at my clipboard and slowly began to read
what I had hurriedly jotted down in pencil only a few
minutes earlier:

   Congress shall make
   no law respecting the
   establishment of
   religion, nor prohibit
   the free exercise thereof.
   Nor prohibit the freedom
   of speech, or of the
   press. Or the right of
   the people to peaceably
   assemble and to petition
   the government for
   a redress of grievances.

“That’s the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights of
the U.S. Constitution,” I said. “And if anybody here
supports the First Amendment, please quietly stand
up!” I motioned with my right hand for people in the
audience to rise up out of their seats. And that they
did. In fact, almost everybody present in Council
Chambers stood up.

Mayor Mansoor, looking surprised at what had just
occurred, quickly responded: “Uh, sir, please direct
your comments to the council and …”

But before he could finish his sentence, I abruptly
cut him off.

“Mayor Mansoor, your time is up!” I said. “Thank you!”
I then walked away from the podium.

“Thank you,” he responded.

As I returned to my seat, people began to clap in
unison. But I was confused. I mean, isn’t this the
reason why Mayor Mansoor had Coyotl Tezcatlipoca
beaten, arrested, and criminally charged for last
month: asking people in the audience to quietly stand
up in support of something? And now he’s “thanking” me
for doing the exact same thing?

Dude, where’s my criminal charge?

========================

To hear Mayor Allan Mansoor “thank” me for asking
people in the audience to stand up, click on “view
video” feature for the Tuesday, February 7, 2006
meeting of the Costa Mesa City Council at the
following link:

http://costamesa.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=4

Jump to “Speaker No. 29″

 

For purposes of disclosure, I was subpoenaed‎ to testify as a witness on Coyotl Tezcatlipoca’s behalf in the federal civil rights lawsuit that the American Civil Liberties Union filed against Costa Mesa Mayor Alan Mansoor and the City of Costa Mesa.


About Duane Roberts