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A Los Angeles man arrested for verbally harassing the city’s first Black councilman with racist messages has sued the city, claiming emotional distress, the Atlanta Black Star reports.

Wayne Spindler, a 46-year-old Los Angeles lawyer, repeatedly attended city council meetings to accost Council President Herb Wesson. He also allegedly harassed two other Black council members and made previous misogynistic, anti-Semitic remarks.

According to the Hollywood Patch, the California attorney filed two claims against Los Angeles Tuesday, requesting a total of $775,000 in damages.

Spindler says the accusations against him are ruining his life and business as an immigration attorney. He added that he is an “emotional wreck,” who now only gets three hours of sleep. The lawyer vehemently denies that he is racist and says he has no ties to the KKK.

“A cross that’s burning, an individual in a KKK hood,” Wesson said in response to the racist drawings. “He calls me the ‘N’ word and has a photo of me hanging from a tree.”

Spindler was arrested on May 11 after he turned in a public-comment card on which he drew a burning cross, a tree with a body hanging from it, and a cartoon figure in a Ku Klux Klan hood holding a noose and a sign that reads “Herb = N—.” On the back of the card, he wrote “F— -U HERB.” 

Criticism comes with the job and I can usually blow it off as part of the job,” Wesson said in an interview with the Los Angeles Sentinel. “But the often harassing and threatening comments made by Mr. Spindler have become increasingly worse over time.” City council members told the Sentinel that Spindler is known to show up to meetings in a Klan hood, make Nazi salutes and say racist, misogynistic, and anti-Semitic statements.

SOURCES: Los Angeles SentinelHollywood PatchAtlanta Black Star | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty

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Los Angeles Lawyer Arrested For Racist Outbursts Sues City For “Emotional Distress”  was originally published on newsone.com