Bob CollinsThere’s something about local politics that brings out the children in adults.
In Waterloo, Iowa, Dwayne Eilers showed up to to speak at the public comment period of the Waterloo City Council meeting and almost got himself arrested for not taking off his hat.
There was nothing particularly wrong with his hat, other than the fact it was on his head, a violation of public decorum in Waterloo, according to the mayor, who asked it be removed, then asked that Eilers be removed when resisting.
“I refuse to remove my hat because I have the right to be my own person, not the person you want me to be,” Eilers said, according to Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier. “You’re stepping on my First Amendment right to speak.”
“Please remove your hat, Mr. Eilers,” the mayor demanded. “We’re not going to be a spectacle tonight.”
Five times the mayor demanded decorum defined by a thinning hairline, five times the gadfly said “no.”
That’s when they called the cops.
He left on his own.
