A frequent City Hall critic arrested last year after submitting a comment card containing Ku Klux Klan imagery and a racial slur is now facing a criminal charge of illegally possessing an assault rifle, the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office confirmed Thursday.

Wayne Spindler, a 47-year-old lawyer who lives in Encino, faces up to a year in jail if convicted of the misdemeanor weapons-related charge, according to the city attorney’s office.

Spindler, who could not be immediately reached for comment, is scheduled to be arraigned April 21 at Van Nuys courthouse.

Spindler, who is a regular speaker during public comment periods at City Council and Police Commission meetings, was arrested last May after submitting the comment card during a committee meeting chaired by Council President Herb Wesson.

Wesson, who is African American, said he took the card as a threat and sought and received a civil restraining order against Spindler, which required the attorney to surrender all firearms in his possession to the Los Angeles Police Department.

The four weapons surrendered included three legally registered handguns, along with an AK 47 Class I Assault Rifle, a weapon illegal for unregistered possession in the state of California since 1991, according to the City Attorney’s Office.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office in December opted not to charge Spindler over the comment card, saying it could not prove the card was a threat. In January, Spindler filed a federal lawsuit against the city, claiming his civil rights had been violated.

— City News Service

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