A Nanaimo man who previously made defamatory comments toward a city employee was arrested after refusing to leave a City of Nanaimo meeting.
On July 16, Dean Leon Propp was taken into custody following a disturbance that paused proceedings at a city finance and audit committee meeting at the Vancouver Island Conference Centre.
Propp, who was making comments from the gallery, was warned by Mayor Leonard Krog to control his behaviour and that speaking out during the meeting wasn't permitted. He was then asked to leave after continued outbursts.
A statement from the city noted that the individual was "yelling out and making rude comments and would not stop when asked."
After refusing to leave, Propp was detained by RCMP for violating , which states that if the person presiding at a council meeting considers that another person at the meeting is acting improperly, the person presiding may order expulsion from the meeting. A police officer may then enforce that order as if it were a court order.
While being handcuffed and escorted from the meeting, Propp can be heard in the recording swearing at the mayor.
In December, to stop publishing "defamatory statements" about a city employee and remove any online defamatory statements or video within seven days. This included a recording of a meeting that was posted to social media with commentary describing the employee as a "pedo."
Since that court case, city council passed a respectful spaces bylaw and changes to the council procedure bylaw, which banned taking photographs or recording video inside council chambers unless expressly authorized by the chairperson. Videos of meetings are live-streamed and archived on the city's website.
Earlier at the July 16 meeting, the mayor needed to remind Propp of the bylaw.
Nanaimo RCMP told the News Bulletin that the incident did not lead to charges and that the man who was detained was released following the end of the meeting.
