Black Man Thrown Out of Shasta Supervisors Meeting for Objecting to Racial Slur
The Shasta County Board of Supervisors is back in the news for all the wrong reasons.
Board President Patrick Jones sparked outrage last week after he kicked an African American man out of a board meeting for protesting a white man’s use of the N-word.
The board was hearing public comments on a proposal for new tiny homes in the county. Resident Alex Bielecki decided to throw a racial slur in with his comments.
“When you devalue someone’s house, that’s wrong, and I’m telling you straight up, I’m not a fool, I’m not a [N-word],” said Bielecki, who is white.
African American resident Nathan Pinkney, also known as Nathan Blayz, told Bielecki to “shut the hell up” and called him a “racist piece of sh*t.”
Jones hadn’t batted an eye at Bielecki’s use of the N-word, but Blayz’s admonishment broke decorum, he said.
“We will have order in the room, Nathan,” said Jones.
As Blayz continued to protest Bielecki’s use of the slur, Jones ordered Blayz — and only Blayz — removed for “disrupting the meeting.”
Jones later said Bielecki’s use of the N-word was protected by the first amendment.
Both Blayz and Bielecki are familiar faces at county meetings. Blayz is an Air Force veteran and frequent critic of the board’s far right supermajority, which includes Jones.
“I will be contacting the ACLU, the NAACP, the Shasta County Grand Jury, as well as Shasta County itself,” he told SF Gate. “I feel I was blatantly and publicly discriminated against by a MAGA politician who has a history of displaying his disdain for me and my activism. I hope to one day soon see Patrick Jones in court and to receive justice for what transpired today.”
Related:
Sheriff to deliver criminal complaint to DA over racial slur at supervisors meeting
