One person yelled “genocide” and said that the council and others had “blood” on their hands shortly after a Longmont City Council study session was called to order Tuesday, leading Mayor Joan Peck to call a recess.
It appeared that emotions were high among others at the meeting Tuesday as well. Immediately before the study session started, several people showed up outside of the Longmont Civic Center — and the council chambers — with signs that read “Ceasefire Now!” and “We Stand With Palestine.”
They were responding to the City Council decision to decline to debate or consider a local coalition’s resolution that called for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, unhindered aid to the region and the release of all hostages. Councilmember Marcia Martin made a motion during the council’s April 30 study session to discuss a draft ceasefire resolution at the council’s next regular session. However, her motion failed due to a lack of a second.
“My colleagues have chosen to vote with their silence,” Martin said, alongside a group of ceasefire supporters outside of the civic center.
Other people showed up with U.S. and Israel flags outside of the civic center to oppose those calling on the council to support a ceasefire resolution.
Both sides remained peaceful. And after the person yelled out at the beginning of the meeting, some people in the audience asked her to sit down and respect civil discourse.
Steven Altschuler, who previously ran for the Longmont City Council, held an Israel flag that said “I Stand With Israel” outside of the civic center.
“Most people realize that life will never be peaceful in Israel until the terrorists are done away with,” Altschuler said in a separate interview.
After the short recess, many of the coalition members who showed up outside of the civic center also signed up to speak during the scheduled public comment period.
“Why were you silent?” Longmont resident Chris Allred asked the City Council during public comment. “This issue does concern the city of Longmont — it concerns us all.”
Peck read a statement concerning the issue thanking those in attendance for their passion and activism. She was then interrupted by the person who yelled.
“I understand why some of you are unhappy that council did not pass a resolution asking for a ceasefire and compassionate aid,” Peck said. “Your council was elected to make council policy concerning the city of Longmont.”
In previous interviews, other council members have indicated that resident concerns about the Israel-Hamas war would be better directed to U.S. senators and representatives as opposed to municipal-level officials.
The war erupted after Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking roughly 250 people hostage, the Associated Press has reported. More than 34,500 people have been killed in Gaza, the Associated Press has reported, citing local health officials.
