Navickas faces charges of harassment and disorderly conduct after a scuffle with Chief O’Meara at Tuesday’s council meeting

By Morgan Rothborne, Ashland.news 

Former Ashland councilor Eric Navickas was arrested following an accusation of racist comments and a subsequent altercation with Police Chief Tighe O’Meara during an Ashland City Council meeting Tuesday evening.

Navickas was booked on allegations of harassment and disorderly conduct in the incident.

On Wednesday morning, Navickas, O’Meara and two councilors provided their accounts of what happened. 

In a phone call, Eric Navickas said that as he was leaving the council chambers after he addressed the council during a discussion about the city’s Enhanced Law Enforcement Area, the police chief “had an obnoxious grin on his face and said my testimony was racist and I’m nothing but a racist.” 

‘Don’t call me a racist’

Navickas said that as the two exited the main room of council chambers and moved into the outer vestibule area, he put his finger in the chief’s chest and said, “Don’t call me a racist.”

He said he felt police officers should be calm and composed, and instead he was arrested for only touching an officer. That is likely akin to what homeless people in Ashland experience, Navickas said — being provoked by a police officer and arrested for their response. 

Also reached by phone Wednesday morning, Police Chief O’Meara said Navickas pushed him back with both hands in a hard shove. But even if it had been only a finger to the chest, that would have been a physical response to a verbal statement and therefore crossing into harassment, he said.

Video footage from inside the building and multiple eyewitnesses could substantiate the nature of the altercation if needed, O’Meara said. 

The police chief said he could not remember exactly what he said to Navickas as the two exited council chambers, but he affirmed that he commented on Navickas’ testimony. 

‘What he did say on its face was racist’

“Regardless of what was intended, what he did say on its face was racist. … For me to call him out on that is the righteous thing to do; his response was to physically assault me,” O’Meara said. 

As previously reported by Ashland.news, Navickas addressed the council with his concern about a proposed change in legal process for the city’s Enhanced Law Enforcement Area, which O’Meara brought forward for council consideration. 

“This is establishing a very dangerous precedent,” Navickas told the council Tuesday. 

He went on to ask councilors to imagine if such an expulsion process were applied to a different community, “a large minority of, say, Black people, impoverished Black people who are possibly more engaged in criminal activity,” he said. 

“How does this apply to that community? We’re an all white community, how would this apply to a Black community?” Navickas said. 

A description of the proposed change to the expulsion process for the enhanced law enforcement area and qualifying charges were included with meeting materials. 

Navickas said that his comments may not have been his most eloquent, but his intention was to draw attention to the potential for issues with racism within the proposed changes to the Enhanced Law Enforcement Area. He said he believes giving officers the power to remove individuals is an opportunity for renewed segregation and erosion of civil liberties. 

“A member of the public shouldn’t be heckled by a senior member of staff, especially after making statements contrary to their policy,” he said. 

Additional charges possible

After he was arrested, Navickas said, he was taken to Jackson County Jail, left in a holding cell until around midnight and charged with harassment and disorderly conduct. O’Meara confirmed those charges and said other charges may be pending through the Jackson County District Attorney’s office. 

Any potential fine or punitive action as a result of the charges will be decided by the Ashland Municipal Court judge, Navickas said. He said he was speaking to an attorney about the incident and believes he has a stronger case for harassment than O’Meara. 

Navickas said that on multiple occasions — including when he served as chair of the city’s Budget Committee during the previous biennium — O’Meara has made “heckling” comments to him. 

‘I think its personal and political’

“I think it’s personal and political, not due to anything with my personality but my political beliefs,” he said. 

In response to claims of heckling from Navickas, O’Meara said one of his favorite photos of himself on the job shows him standing in uniform in front of an unmarked police car in May of 2020, performing traffic control to ensure the peaceful conclusion of a defund the police protest that Navickas was involved in. 

“I have always defended his civil liberties like anyone else, as I have done in my 15 years with the Ashland Police Department,” he said. 

Another favorite photo shows O’Meara standing in uniform holding a sign stating, “Stop lynching Black people,” during a protest against the murder of George Floyd in 2020, he said. 

In a 2020 Ashland Daily Tidings story on the protest as republished on the website Police2Peace, O’Meara spoke in detail about police conduct in relation to the officer who stood by while officer Derek Chauvin pressed George Floyd into the ground. 

“The answer to that, O’Meara says, can be found in the criminal justice code of ethics and APD’s own code of ethics, with which every officer is expected to comply. The code includes a section titled ‘Duty to Intercede,’” the article said. 

Councilor Dylan Bloom provided a statement on Tuesday’s events via text message. 

“Former councilor and recent candidate Eric Navickas made a comment implying that an increase in Black residents in Ashland would lead to more crime. That statement is objectively racist and entirely unacceptable in any forum, especially in a public meeting of our city government,” he said. 

Bloom said he heard O’Meara say to Navickas, “That was racist,” then he saw Navickas shove O’Meara into a door or wall before the altercation moved out of sight into the vestibule area on the other side of the door. 

‘No place for racist rhetoric’

“There is no place for racist rhetoric or physical aggression in Ashland, not in our politics, not in our meetings, not in our community,” he said. 

Councilor Jeff Dahle provided a written statement via email. 

“At our most recent public forum, a deeply troubling incident occurred that must be addressed directly and unequivocally. An individual exercised their right to free speech — however, that right was used to utter language that was explicitly racially charged, clearly inflammatory, and patently offensive. While the First Amendment protects even the most abhorrent speech, it does not protect physical violence,” he said. 

“Our public meetings are a space for open dialogue and democratic participation. We cannot — and will not — tolerate physical aggression in these chambers, or anywhere,” he said. 

The Ashland City Council stands against racism, bigotry and violence, Dahle said, and will take all appropriate measures to ensure its meetings remain safe and respectful for all including law enforcement, as free speech is a right, but violence is not. 

Recordings of city council meetings are posted on RVTV the afternoon following each meeting. 

Email Ashland.news reporter Morgan Rothborne at [email protected].