BANGOR, Maine (WABI) - The Bangor City Council held a special meeting Monday night to vote on whether to censure council member Joseph Leonard and to condemn hate speech.

This comes after a fiery meeting last week where Leonard threw a pen and made obscene gestures at a member of the public after someone on zoom used racist language.

Those who argued against the censure claimed that his mistake in the heat of the moment wasn’t as bad as the offensive language that preceded it, while those in favor of the censure say his behavior sets a bad precedent for government leaders and isn’t acceptable behavior.

Members voted unanimously to condemn hate speech, and voted to censure Leonard 5-2.

“A decision that was made that solely looked at the technicalities and did not look at the grander p

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