Mansoor: It wasn’t personal

Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor testified Wednesday that he was only trying to maintain a safe, orderly council meeting in January 2006 when he interrupted Benito Acosta’s speech and the activist was arrested by police.

Mansoor, taking the witness stand, said he believed the Jan. 3, 2006, meeting could have turned violent when Acosta encouraged audience members to stand.

“I wanted calm and order to be restored,” Mansoor said, but Acosta “was not responding. He responded negatively and defiantly.”

Many showed up then to support and oppose the mayor’s contentious proposal that police be trained to enforce federal immigration laws, a move Acosta and his supporters argued would change the city’s demographics and bolster racial profiling.

Acosta, backed by the American Civil Liberties Union, is suing the mayor and the city. He claims that the mayor’s actions and his arrest violated his 1st Amendment right to free speech.

Answering questions from Dan Spradlin, the attorney representing the respondents, Mansoor said he harbored no ill feelings toward Acosta, who called him a “[expletive] racist pig” at the Dec. 6, 2005, City Council meeting. The mayor said cutting off Acosta’s speech was not retaliation for the activist’s swearing at him.

Mansoor, citing his experience as a sheriff’s deputy at Orange County Jail, said he’s gotten used to being called names, and that his issues with Acosta were not personal.

Acosta was also interrupted because, Mansoor testified, the activist’s speaking to the audience was a violation of the city’s municipal code.

Dan Stormer, Acosta’s lawyer, pressed Mansoor to tell the court exactly when he felt that Acosta was being disruptive, and whether he believed that he should have been arrested for asking his supporters to stand.

Mansoor said he left the Council Chambers after calling for a break, trusting that police officers would handle the situation to the best of their ability.

Acosta tried to redirect his comments to the council, Mansoor said, but it was too late because the activist didn’t listen when he could have.