Edison council abruptly adjourns meeting during public comment

By Alvin Wu
Domestic Affairs
Edison council abruptly adjourns meeting during public comment

The Edison Township Council takes a five minute recess during its Dec. 23 combined meeting in the middle of Leroy Truth's statement during public comment. EDISON TV/Livestream

EDISON, N.J., Jan. 10 (ZFJ) — The Edison Town Council adjourned their Dec. 23 combined meeting in the middle of public comment following a statement by Leroy Truth accusing Mayor Sam Joshi of rape and calling for an investigation.

Truth is a YouTuber who runs the channel Leroy Truth Investigations. His stated purpose is “to expose government corruption and hold corrupt government officials accountable to the full extent of the law,” according to the channel’s about section. He posted a video on Dec. 8 where he interviews, with Councilman Richard Brescher, a woman who says she was raped by Joshi.

Video: Leroy Truth’s statement during public comment at the Dec. 23 combined meeting. Edison Town Council takes five minute recess, then immediately adjourns. EDISON TV/Livestream 　

When he took the dais, Truth began by calling Police Chief Tom Bryan a “scumbag” and referencing his recent video on Joshi.

He then discussed a video he published on Dec. 16 where he commended an Edison police officer who refused to remove a man from a board of education meeting “for saying something the [board] president didn’t like” and “protected that man’s constitutional rights.”

Truth then said that he showed the video to one of the police officers guarding the council chambers and asked if the officer would remove someone from the meeting for saying something the council didn’t like. Truth said that the officer said he was recently off probation and that his family would come first. He expressed outrage at this response, accusing Bryan of creating a culture of violating residents’ constitutional rights.

With just over a minute left, Truth read part of an anonymous post in the Edison Taxpayers group on Facebook about his video on Joshi.

He then asked the council for a show of hands for the question, “how many of you, after two weeks, say it is wrong for a man to rape a woman in Edison, New Jersey?”

Councilwoman Margot Harris raised her hand as Councilman Joe Coyle called a point of order, asking Council President Nishith Patel to judge if the survey was a violation of parliamentary procedure.

“There is no reason he should be doing a survey,” said Coyle. “He shouldn’t be doing a survey.”

“There is no need to do surveys,” said Patel, while Truth kept asserting that he was still talking.

“I’m gonna advise all the council members to not engage,” said the township attorney.

“We do not handle judicial process,” said Coyle.

At the end of this exchange, Truth had 18 seconds remaining for public comment. He demanded 30 seconds back, which Patel opposed granting. Truth commended Harris before Patel told him his time was up and that he would be subject to removal from the meeting if he did not leave the dais.

Coyle expressed support for giving Truth 30 more seconds, but Patel said that would be “in violation of our ordinance,” referring to the recently-passed decorum ordinance, and ordered police to remove Truth.

Truth then argued with two approaching police officers and Bryan as the council took a five minute recess.

Video from New Brunswick Today shows Bryan consulting Patel and the township attorney. Patel tells him, “once he violates the ordinance, we give him a warning, and then after that, he has to be out of the chambers.”

Truth contested the constitutionality of Patel’s removal order with police officers until the council reconvened at 8:05 p.m.

The council immediately moved to adjourn as Truth asked if he’d get the 30 seconds. The motion, made by Harris and seconded by Councilman John H. Poyner, passed, ending the meeting at 8:05 p.m.

Video from New Brunswick Today shows immediate uproar from the audience as residents yelled that they hadn’t been able to speak yet.

“Well, we got things to say! How dare you!” called out one resident. “I didn’t get a chance to speak!” shouted another.

Councilmen and residents lingered for several more minutes before police eventually cleared the chambers.

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