A man who was kicked out of a public meeting at Los Angeles City Hall for wearing a Ku Klux Klan (KKK) hood will receive a $215,000 settlement. The Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved the settlement as part of its closed session on June 11.
Michael Hunt attended a Dept. of Recreation and Parks meeting in 2011 adorning a KKK hood and a t-shirt with conspicuously derogatory racial slur directed at African Americans.
Ironically, Hunt is an African American, himself. He allegedly adorned himself with the KKK hood and deragotory t-shirt to make a statement against what he believed to be discrimination practices by the City.
According to the lawsuit and multiple news reports, Hunt was escorted away from the meeting after he was warned that the KKK hood and deragatory t-shirt violated the rules of decorum at City Hall.
Hunt was reportedly informed his attire was offensive and, if the KKK hood and derogatory t-shirt were not removed, he would forced to leave the meeting.
After being ejected from the meeting, Hunt was reportedly cited for disturbing a public assembly. The charge was not pursued by City Hall, according to news reports.
However, Hunt, a Venice resident who was a vendor at the enclave’s popular boardwalk, filed a lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles, alleging free speech and due process violations.
The settlement against Los Angeles is reportedly Hunt’s second; he reportedly filed suit against Los Angeles in 2009, challenging vending restrictions imposed on the Venice Boardwalk by the City. That lawsuit reportedly settled for about $265,000.
Councilman Jose Huizar was not present for the vote; the other 14 council members voted in favor of the settlement.
