photo by: City of Lawrence screenshot

Justin Spiehs, who is a Republican candidate for the Douglas County Commission, speaks during public comment during the Lawrence City Commission's meeting on Oct. 11, 2022.

A frequently disruptive public commenter who is running for Douglas County Commission was asked to leave the Lawrence City Commission’s meeting on Tuesday under the governing body’s new public comment rules.

Mayor Courtney Shipley asked Justin Spiehs, a Republican candidate for the Douglas County Commission, to keep his comments germane to the governing body during the commission’s general public comment period. The commission recently approved new procedures for public comment, and those rules recently went into effect.

Spiehs was given multiple warnings that his comments did not relate to the commission before being asked to stop commenting and leave the meeting. Spiehs became verbally combative with Shipley, who is Hispanic, including calling her a Nazi and accusing her of being racist against him because he is white. Spiehs also called Shipley a Nazi during last week’s commission meeting while she read a welcome message in German for several German exchange students who were being recognized at the meeting.

Shipley ultimately recessed Tuesday’s meeting for 10 minutes, and Spiehs left City Hall, directing expletives at Shipley and then at a man in the audience whom he had a verbal altercation with before the meeting started. Spiehs had insulted that man because he was wearing a mask.

After Spiehs’ comments, Shipley also warned several other public commenters to keep their comments germane to city business to comply with the new policy.

Spiehs was previously removed from a meeting of the Douglas County Commission for disruptive behavior and in August pleaded no contest in Douglas County District Court to two misdemeanor charges stemming from a case in which he was originally charged with aggravated assault.

Editor’s Note

During the course of reporting on the Douglas County Commission elections, the Journal-World had an interaction with candidate Justin Spiehs and the Lawrence Police Department that we want to disclose to readers.

On Oct. 11, Spiehs created a disturbance at the Journal-World offices that prompted us to call the Lawrence Police Department to our offices. Spiehs and two companions left the office before police arrived on scene. However, Spiehs, his companions and staff members of the Journal-World all provided information to the police department for a report. No citations were issued by the police department. Following that incident, the Journal-World made the decision to no longer allow Spiehs access to the Journal-World offices. That is an action we did not take lightly, but believe it is the appropriate decision to minimize disruptions to our employees. We continue to provide coverage of Spiehs and communicate with him in ways that don’t involve him coming to our offices.