The Santa Ana City Council meeting ended prematurely Tuesday night because of a dispute that began with a protester declining to remove a hat with an obscene term about police.
The protester declined Mayor Miguel Pulido’s request that he remove the hat, according to Santa Ana Public Information Officer Tanya Lyon.
As many as 15 other people then started screaming profanities, Lyon said.
Pulido then said he would call police to remove the person wearing the objectionable hat, but instead canceled the meeting, Lyon said.
A knife left behind by a protester was found after the meeting was over, Lyon said.
The people who were screaming did not appear to be organized, with some saying they wanted to address the City Council about Santa Ana’s homeless and others saying they wanted to talk about the city’s police department, according to Lyon.
Anti-police protesters had disrupted a previous City Council meeting.
— City News Service