As regular readers are aware, I border upon being a free speech absolutist. I believe the best response to hate speech is better free speech. Censorship never works. I’m not aware of any credible free speech absolutist who believes hijacking civic proceedings with hateful speech constitutes protected expression.
This morning, I reported on an incident in which a man entered a Hamilton City Council Board of Health meeting and yelled anti-Semitic, Islamophobic, homophobic, racist, and transphobic comments. The man interrupted the proceedings, used slurs regarding multiple communities, then left when security approached.
The entire disruption was captured on the meeting’s livestream because the slurs were picked up by the microphone of the councillor who was speaking when interrupted.
This incident raises an editorial question I rarely face: whether to republish the specific slurs used.
I have decided not to republish what the man said. Republishing them risks this website being delisted or ranked lower by search engines.
The slurs are so rarely used in public spaces that using asterisks in place of the words would be unclear to most readers.
Other outlets with higher search engine rankings may choose to publish the exact words. I believe both approaches represent reasonable editorial decisions based on different priorities and circumstances.
The obvious drawback to my decision is that it leaves readers unsure of the specific nature of the hate speech, requiring them to listen to the linked audio to understand the full scope of what occurred.
CAUTION: the audio is offensive.
I will revisit this decision if the original YouTube recording is deleted. This is also a rare instance in which I believe the City could make a reasonable argument for editing the recording of a public meeting.
Production Details
v. 1.0.0
Published: July 28, 2025
Last updated: July 28, 2025
Author: Joey Coleman
Update Record
v. 1.0.0 original version