The Waite Park man who put up anti-Muslim cartoons in St. Cloud faces lower fines if he is found to have violated a city ordinance barring postings on utility poles.
The city reduced the potential fines to $100 from $250 for each of two counts. That change came at the end of an administrative hearing Thursday.
Sidney Elyea acknowledges he posted anti-Muslim posters near a Somali clothing store and the Islamic Center. He is arguing the city is prosecuting him because of what the posters said and that he is the victim of selective prosecution.
Administrative hearing officer Russell Cherne, a St. Cloud-based lawyer, has until the end of August to reach a decision. The city attorney and defense have several weeks each to submit written closing arguments.
A 90-minute hearing was conducted Thursday in an all-purpose room at Lake George Municipal Complex, yards from where children were playing outside on a sunny day in water and on playground equipment.
The city relied on written affidavits for its four witnesses. Defense attorney Ryan Garry of Minneapolis questioned the four witnesses that included a police detective, an assistant police chief, the city’s community development director and the assistant director of operations and maintenance.
Elyea did not testify and remained silent, occasionally drinking water from a red plastic cup, while his lawyer questioned witnesses.
Renee Courtney, who is prosecuting the case for the city, indicated the city would reduce the citation from a major violation of the city ordinance to a minor violation. City Attorney Matt Staehling, who was in the room but did not participate except to confer once with Courtney, said the reduction of the severity of the citation was case strategy and would not say why it was reduced.
Before the change, Elyea could have been fined up to $250 on each count.
Courtney argued during the hearing that the city received a number of complaints from people about the signs on utility poles and that some people feared for their safety. An investigation led police to Elyea, who acknowledged putting up to 10 signs in St. Cloud and Waite Park. The drawings contained explicit depictions of bestiality and sodomy, contained images of the Prophet Muhammad in derogatory positions and contained words offensive to Muslims in particular.
During the hearing, Garry said his client has nothing against Somali people but finds Islam to be an anti-Christian religion and wanted people to have information. St. Cloud has a Somali immigrant community, and Somalis often adhere to the Muslim faith.
Garry used his questioning to try to demonstrate that the city’s actions were highly unusual for an alleged violation of a city ordinance. He plans to argue in his written statement that his client should prevail because what his client did is protected by the First Amendment.
City Community Development Director Matt Glaesman said people usually get a warning letter for having an illegally placed sign.
Elyea did not receive a warning.
“That is not common practice for a zoning violation,” Glaesman said.
Detective Tad Hoeschen and Assistant Police Chief Sue Stawarski each testified that the department does not prioritize signs on telephone poles unless they receive a complaint. In this case, the owner of a business complained and a number of other people in the community complained about the signs on the poles, Stawarski said.
“There was a lot of outrage. There was a lot of concern from different groups in the community,” she said.
Hoeschen said he investigated the case not knowing if civil or criminal charges would be filed. The Benton and Stearns County attorneys declined to prosecute. The city attorney asked Hoeschen to visit Elyea again and issue him two citations as major violations of the city ordinance.