Public comments during El Dorado County BOS meeting filled with antisemitism and profanity

El Dorado County, CALIF. - The El Dorado County Board of Supervisors' meeting on Tuesday turned into a blitz of antisemitic hate speech during the meeting's second public comment period of the day.

Caller after caller spoke during each of their three-minute time allotments via Zoom, each of them filling the 180 seconds with derogatory comments about those of Jewish faith, as well as profanity.

"We're voicing our opinions now, but I mean, it's not going to be good later when we keep getting shut down and canceled by these groups," threatened a man who gave his name as "Ky." "This is a white European country. The Jews need to go back, they aren't welcome here anymore."

Most of the callers said they were calling due to the supervisors rescinded their approval of making July "American Christian Heritage Month." Following backlash after their initial approval of the proclamation, the board unanimously rescinded the proclamation. Local Jews, the American Civil Liberties Union, and others, including a Change.org petition with over 1,000 signatures, said the proclamation inappropriately advanced the idea that the United States is a Christian nation.

A man who gave his name as "Ryan", who said he was an El Dorado County resident, spent his comment time with hate speech and vile words. This led Board Chair Wendy Thomas to check with County Counsel David Livingston to see if they had a Code of Conduct for callers, and if they could stop public comments considered hate speech and filled with foul language.

At this time there are no rules on public comment considered hate speech due to the First Amendment, but Livingston will examine further.

Another man who called in gave the name "Jim" and he said the Holocaust was a hoax and called for "white f'ing power." The rest of his three minutes was filled with a mouthful of profanity and he ended the call with a "Heil Victory."

Ken Greenwood, often an active participant in the BOS meetings, called and said of the previous callers, "I'm about ready to throw up. I'm sorry. What these people are saying and doing is outrageous. I'm blown away by these previous comments."

"Heil Hitler, the Holocaust was a Hoax," said a caller by the name of Robert.

"I'm appalled at the hate speech," said caller Melody Lane. "This needs to be addressed sooner rather than later."

Several people who already had spoken tried to call in again, but there is a one-comment limit during public comment. There is a 30-minute time limit for the open public comment period, and Board Chair Wendy Thomas allowed five more minutes to be used past this cutoff time.

The next caller was an artificial name and voice, possibly AI. It said, "This is a Christian nation founded by Christian men."

One caller thanked the Board for a "great meeting" and said he was sorry that they, as public servants, had to be subjected to inappropriate language. He was obviously emotional as he tried to speak of the majority of the previous callers.

The final item for the day brought many of the same callers. The County Library asked for a one-day employee in-service day on October 20 for training, learning how to navigate challenges, and how to handle the new roles the library is taking on in their service of the homeless, and serving as a hub for many segments of society.

Public comment on this item was to only be about the in-service day but several of the same callers as above, more use of antisemitic slurs, profanity, and other off-topic comments.

Chair Thomas was fed up with those not calling in for the agenda item and put a stop to the content of calls not fitting the board item.

"The hate speech reflected today does not reflect the views of the Board of Supervisors in El Dorado County. We are a caring community," said Thomas.