It was quiet in Inglewood City Council chambers on Tuesday as a public commenter, dialing in by phone, spoke about officials’ handling of the death of Bryan Bostic.
Then, the unidentified speaker brought up a recent allegation that Mayor James Butts inappropriately touched a girl at a city event last month. The mayor shifted toward his microphone.
“OK, we’re going to cut the caller, because it’s not true,” said Butts, who has denied the allegation. The timer blinked from 35 seconds down to a red zero.Though Butts eventually allowed the commenter to resume, a free speech expert told The LA Local the move violated state public meeting law and constitutional free speech rights.“You don’t get to cut someone off just because you don’t like what they say,” said David Loy, legal director for the nonprofit First Amendment Coalition…