Update: PNC President Needed Medical Treatment, Statement from McAuley, Journalists
William Gude, the journalist who confronted City Attorney Hydee Feldstein-Soto at Palms Community Day, attended the Board of Neighborhood Council Commission Meeting to, in his words, discuss Palms Neighborhood Council board member Kyle McAuley’s behavior at the Palms Community Day event on Saturday. You can view his public comment here:
https://www.youtube.com/live/igHbzc4A_VY?si=yBnZEmqrxJjXJm1b&t=585
Gude stated in his comment that Kyle McCauley “got up in his face and used language that was pretty disturbing.” He continued and told the Commission he would share it with them now, “He called me a p*ssy, he called me an idiot, and he told me to get out of there. So he was violating my First Amendment rights, because it was a public space, and he was acting in his official role, being that he was wearing a Palms Neighborhood Council shirt at the event. He began chest-bumping me, which is an assault. This is a member of the Neighborhood Council committing an assault on a constituent.”
“[He] spit in my face a couple of times and eventually knocked over the lady behind me, a lovely lady. That behavior is unacceptable. This is an elected member of the City government committing an assault and violating my First Amendment right to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly, but on top of that, after he knocked the lady over, he then blamed it on me and said that I committed assault. So this is an elected official lying on a member of the public at an LA City event and I think it sets a terrible precedent if something isn’t done about this. This behavior is unacceptable and if we allow him to commit multiple assaults and tell members of the public that they are not allowed to speak, that they are not allowed to be there at a public event, then what will come next?”
In addition, Gude stated that he would file a crime report at the West Los Angeles Police Station and that he expects the Board to move swiftly on this issue since he believes that McCauley has no business functioning as a local council board member.
The next speaker was Palms Neighborhood Council’s president Kay Hartman thanking local government officials for responding quickly to her report of the incident. Gude noted that Hartman had to go to an urgent care facility and sustained bruises after being knocked over. Hartman told Gude that the video was very helpful to her for pushing the case forward.
In an email exchange, Kyle McAuley first said that he had a statement and then referred us to a post on his Instagram page as his statement on the incident.
It says, “I want to speak on what went down yesterday. So as you all know, I am part of my neighborhood council. We’ve been putting time and energy into an event called Community Day for the last few months and it’s on the taxpayer’s dime. We all walked around the neighborhood putting up flyers, making phone calls, organizing events and games. I DJ’d from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. We just wanted a fun event, but not everyone felt the same. One of the speakers, Hydee Feldstein Soto, the City Attorney showed up along with a handful of protesters screaming at her with their phones out.”
“At one point the entire Neighborhood Council was huddled in one spot and these protesters were getting in our faces. They weren’t assaulting us and I understand that they are within their legal right to protest because I will always defend freedom of speech. Always. But I believe that gives me the right legally to also express freedom of speech. I also acknowledge that I violated the code of conduct for the Neighborhood Council. I did. I am prepared to accept the consequences of my actions.”
“But I am a fighter, not a promoter of violence. I want to make that very clear and this is how I am garnering support to make change. I may not see it now, but I will see the support. If we aren’t bold and meet these people with the same charged rhetoric and energy that they bring, they won’t be disincentivized. I’ve agreed to keep my mouth shut at the next committee meeting and I am going to honor that. But I am never not going to be edgy and not call out b*llshit because it’s who I am and the raw fight for change is inside me.”
McCauley put up this Instagram story after he discovered the video of Gude attending the Board of Neighborhood Council Commission Meeting.
Journalist Jonathan Green, who was the other person insulted by Kyle McAuley at Palms Community Day sent us a statement on the incident via email, “I have been covering unhoused sweeps in West LA and recently my work has centered around the City’s ongoing attempts to completely clear tents and RVs on Cotner Avenue between Olympic and Santa Monica Blvd. I came to the Palms Community Day event because I knew that the City Attorney was going to be there and I wanted to ask her about the legality of crushing RVs on-site, which is something I have been told the city plans to do later this week.”
“While attempting to ask the city attorney about this issue, Palms Neighborhood Council member Kyle McAuley inserted himself into the conversation by expressing his excitement at the prospect of unhoused people’s vehicles being crushed by the city. When I told him that I was a resident of the Palms neighborhood, he told me that I should go live somewhere else and at one point told me that he is on the neighborhood council to stop people like me. Another member of the Council tried to defuse the situation by talking with me, but Kyle insisted on continuing to engage with me in a very hostile and combative manner without actually listening to my concerns and instead treated the situation like a heated argument rather than an interaction between a government official and a constituent.”
“When Kyle became frustrated that he was not able to talk over me, he began shouting “IDIOT!!!” at me over and over again like a child throwing a temper tantrum. Eventually, I got pulled to the side by the other council member to have a one-on-one conversation, but Kyle came back and got right up in my face to call me a pussy. He then ran over to William Gude and proceeded to have a meltdown where he got in his face and started screaming at him to leave attempting to physically push Gude back and knocked over the council president.”
“After this incident, Kyle spent the rest of the event DJing. To say the least, I am deeply unhappy with Kyle McAuley and doing everything I can to have him removed from the neighborhood council. I believe Kyle is a danger to the community and he shows contempt for his own constituents. I have lived in West LA almost my entire life and I know that the community does not stand for his values and I know that the community would be willing to make their voices heard if that is what it will take to get him removed. Right now, I am seeing signs that the neighborhood council is working on the process of getting him removed and I am waiting to see how this process will move along in the coming weeks.”
“I have faith that the Palms neighborhood council will do the right thing. However, if I do not see action in the right direction I am prepared to start canvassing the neighborhood and building support for kicking him off the council. Finally, I want to make clear that at this moment I do not have any problems with the other neighborhood council members and my only grievance is with Kyle McAuley. The rest of Palms Neighborhood Council have acted professionally and have not done anything to cause further problems. If the council drags their feet on kicking Kyle out then I will have problems but for now, I do not have any issues.”
