Jefferson City’s council meeting comes to standstill after racist comments on stream

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Monday night's Jefferson City Council meeting came to a standstill after racist and antisemitic comments could be heard in the council chambers.

The City Council typically streams all council meetings online, which can be seen on a large screen in the council chambers. Roughly 30 minutes into the meeting, a male's voice can be heard coming from the stream directing people to look at the screen.

Most people attending the meeting looked, only to find a disturbing image on the screen, followed by the male voice making antisemitic comments. Council members and those at the meeting appeared confused and asked that the stream be taken down.

A female voice soon joined in.

A woman with the city was quickly seen scrambling toward the back of the room to take the stream down.

The entire incident lasted about a minute total.

Mayor Ron Fitzwater apologized to those attending the meeting and stated the city did not agree with the comments and didn't intend for it to happen. The stream was taken down for the rest of the meeting. However, the meeting continued in person as normal.

The council also approved reopening the city's yard waste site.