Council Meeting Arrest Sparks Lawsuit

A Costa Mesa immigrants rights advocate filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Costa Mesa, its mayor and police chief Thursday, contending the city violated his 1st Amendment rights when he was ordered to stop speaking before the City Council in January and removed by police.

The activist, Benito Acosta, also alleges that after his remarks -- about the city’s plan to help enforce federal immigration law -- city police beat him. Acosta, with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union, is seeking $25,000 in damages.

“It appears, from the time when the city started to enter into these controversial topics, a certain voice is being suppressed while other voices can be heard,” said Belinda Escobosa Helser, attorney for Acosta, who also goes by the name Coyotl Tezcalipoca.

“It’s clear from Coyotl’s case that he was not allowed to debate an issue that potentially has wide-reaching effects,” Helser said.

The city was mostly mum in response. Mayor Allan Mansoor declined to comment “right now,” as did police spokesman Sgt. Marty Carver. City Atty. Kimberly Hall Barlow said she couldn’t comment on the suit because she hadn’t seen it.

Acosta also asked in the lawsuit that the city be prohibited from enforcing part of its municipal code that gives the mayor wide discretion about who can speak at City Council meetings.

The lawsuit is the latest salvo in an ongoing controversy about the City Council’s plan to allow city police to enforce some federal immigration laws.

Acosta, a 24-year-old student at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, was speaking against the policy at a Jan. 3 City Council meeting.

Video footage of the meeting shows that Acosta criticized three council members who approved the use of police to check the immigration status of felony suspects. He accused them of trying to get rid of the city’s Latino population:

“We know you want to change the demographics of Costa Mesa. We know your plot.... We will fight this to the end. If anyone agrees with me, stand up.”

Mansoor cut him off before the three minutes that any speaker is allotted at council meetings and called a recess at 6:58 p.m. The council returned at 7:35 p.m.

During the recess, Acosta was arrested on suspicion of disturbing an assembly, interfering with a council meeting and resisting a police officer. The district attorney declined to prosecute.

The city attorney’s office is considering filing misdemeanor charges of disrupting a municipal public assembly. Barlow said Thursday that her office’s investigation was continuing.

Helser said the police beat Acosta and that he suffered bruises, a sprained neck and injuries to his back, arm and head.

According to the lawsuit, Mansoor allowed Jim Gilchrist, co-founder of the Minuteman Project, a citizens’ border patrol campaign, to speak for more than the allotted three minutes and allowed people in the audience to stand in support of Gilchrist’s comments.