BANGOR — The Bangor City Council voted to censure Councilor Joe Leonard this week.

This comes in response to Leonard throwing a pen and making an obscene gesture during a council meeting on Oct. 27 after a speaker made racist comments.

The speaker joined the meeting via Zoom and thanked Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for “protecting our white communities.” He also ended his statements by saying “white f—ing power.”

Prior to making a vulgar gesture, Leonard verbally responded to the comments.

“For all the hate mongers out there, I hope you absolutely understand that you are in the minority, and you people are absolutely not welcome in our city,” Leonard said during the Oct. 27 meeting.

During his censure meeting a week later, Leonard refused to apologize for his response to the comments.

“I’m not going to apologize for standing up against naziism or hate,” said Leonard at the Nov. 3 meeting. “I refuse to accept criticism for denouncing bigotry. If speaking out against hatred is wrong, then shame on us all. Bangor deserves better leadership than this.”

This is Leonard's third censure, and came just a day before the council's three newest members were elected.

City councilors also passed a resolve condemning hate speech on Monday.

Councilor-Elect Susan Faloon said she believes the council needs to examine how Zoom is utilized to prevent hate speech from derailing meetings.

“We need to set some strict parameters around Zoom participation,” said Faloon.

City Councilor Michael Beck said the council will have a discussion on whether to continue using Zoom or how to regulate its use considering recent interruptions.

As an incoming councilor, Faloon also shared her thoughts on Leonard’s actions and subsequent censure.

“I appreciate the sentiment behind the actions, because I don’t condone the hate speech that was spewed during that meeting,” said Faloon. “But that’s not helping, that’s just playing into the behaviors that these people who are trying to stir things up are wanting.”

However, she also said she believes councilors need to act appropriately.

“While I support the sentiment of the censure, I don’t think it goes far enough,” said Faloon. “I don’t think it’s going to do anything to change behaviors. I think that if we’re going to hold participants in meetings to a standard, then we need to hold council members to that same standard, if not higher.”

Spectrum News has reached out to Councilor Leonard for further comment.