4) it's bad for everyone who relies on the council to effectively manage our local government. Over a quarter million people have a stake in the city council's ability to enact policy, and when that ability is compromised the ones with the most to lose are the same ones already at highest risk of systemic issues like sexism and racism.

Rationalizing this kind of bad behavior out of a desire to protect individuals has a real cost for all of us. I understand that there are structural factors underlying Freeman's "passion" and resulting behavior. I also think we deserve to be governed by people who don't resort to violence against their coworkers.