Drop The Mike in Hudson, Ohio (UPDATED)

 Freedom of Speech 

     A Retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel, Barney Kemter, ---in uniform--was prevented from being heard during a speech when he talked about about the African-Americans who started Memorial Day in 1865.

     An American Legion organizer had cut his mike off:

The Beacon Journal reports that an organizer, Cindy Suchan, had reviewed Kemter’s speech before he delivered it and asked him to remove that section—and decided to cut him off when he went ahead with it. Suchan told the newspaper that the section “was not relevant to our program for the day” and that the “theme of the day was honoring Hudson veterans.” Kemter said he was disappointed that organizers would try to censor his freedom of speech, remarking: “This is not the same country I fought for.”

Source: The Daily Beast

 

N.Y. Times update:

Now, the head of the American Legion of Ohio is seeking the resignation of two of the event’s organizers, and the organization has opened an investigation into the matter.

UPDATE: they have resigned.

(From a Military.com story)

"The head of an American Legion post in Ohio stepped down Friday amid criticism following the decision of Memorial Day ceremony organizers to turn off a retired U.S. Army officer's microphone while he was speaking about how freed Black slaves honored fallen soldiers just after the Civil War.

American Legion leaders in Ohio also suspended the post's charter and are taking steps to close it."