On Wednesday night, atheist activist Sally Hunt spoke at a meeting of the Board of Aldermen in Wentzville, Missouri to criticize the “In God We Trust” sign they have in giant letters in their meeting room.
She explained the history of the phrase. She told them why it excluded the non-religious people in the community. And she also pointed out that she’s heard these complaints from several people in the area but that they were fearful of speaking out in public — that’s why she was doing it on their behalf.
Mayor Nick Guccione responded by essentially dismissing her criticism because she was the only person they had ever heard speaking out against the phrase… even though she had just explained why others weren’t giving speeches against it.
She tried re-explaining everything, but Guccione told her that her time was up and she needed to sit down before he called for her removal. Hunt eventually went back to her seat after realizing he wasn’t listening. And then he asked the cops to remove her from the room.
Hunt wrote on Facebook:
As I was sitting down, the mayor asked the cops to have me removed. I did not cause a disturbance. I said my piece and sat down. He wants to paint this as though he had no choice but to have me forcibly removed by the cops. That’s a lie.
Read the full story at the Friendly Atheist Blog