Portsmouth, RI, 07/27/09. During a Portsmouth Town Council session debating a proposed skateboard park in the Island Park section of town, Pro skateboarder Aquiel Brathwaite was interrupted by Councilor Karen Gleason who prevented him from speaking because of a T-shirt graphic containing an image of figure with raised middle finger. He was not permitted to speak until he hid the image. Full transcript after the jump.

NOTE: Transcript is a best-effort approximation based on the video captured from Channel 18 Public Access; audio quality made it difficult at times to decipher the words.

AQUIEL BRATHWAITE
Good evening (inaudible)

COUNCIL PRESIDENT PETER McINTYRE
Will you give your name?

BRATHWAITE
Aquiel Brathwaite (inadible)

McINTYRE
Could you speak into the... (crosstalk) speak into the microphone, tell us why you're here, because at the beginning of this you were introduced as a professional skateboarder, and what I'd like you to do here tonight is, if we have a park, and we haven't made any decisions, this Council but if it's [age] 8 to 11 I want to know if you would come down and skate at that skate park.

BRATHWAITE
First and foremost, one thing that's really sad about...

COUNCILOR KAREN GLEASON
Excuse me... I'm really sorry to interrupt you, however. I apologize. But if you could, take a minute, go out to the men's room, and put that t-shirt inside out, I would have... (crosstalk from meeting attendees)

BRATHWAITE
(to attendees, signaling for quiet) Wait, wait, wait.

McIntyre (gaveling for order)
Please, please

GLEASON
I would appreciate you doing that

BRATHWAITE
I 100-percent respect where you're coming from. Me being a professional athlete with endorsements, I get all types of clothes to wear. I respect where you're coming from, I know that all of you have...

McINTYRE
(as several attendees walk out)
Everyone, please...

BRATHWAITE
(to attendees)
Hey, guys, this is not respectful.

McINTYRE
Geez, I can't believe this.

BRATHWAITE
(to Council) I'm personally sorry for what just happened

McINTYRE
That's all right. What I would like you to do...

BRATHWAITE
Want me to turn my shirt around?

McINTYRE
Sure you may, why don't you step out into the...

BRATHWAITE
Just take 30 seconds (rotates shirt with graphic to back)

GLEASON
I think you should put it inside out

McINTYRE
Oh, Karen...Gleason. Alright, now, you're all set, now take your time. Tell us, like you said, you're a professional skateboarder, explain to the Council here and the public that's sitting here, if you would go into a skate park that is for 8-year-olds to 11-year-olds.

BRATHWAITE
Personally?

McINTYRE
Yes

BRATHWAITE
No, sir, I'm a professional, I skate on a whole (inadible). I travel the country to skate, I make a living off skateboarding, I mean six figures a year. These people sitting here (gestures at audience) if they laugh, they giggle, they really don't know what skateboarding is. Do you realize that Rhode Island has the highest drug and alcohol underage use of any state? Per caipta? Do you realize that kids need an outlet, they need something to get away. America has the highest obesity rate of any country because kids do not go outside. Building a skate park in the neighborhood. Yes, we are noisy people. Granted. Yes, we are. But at the end of the day, we are still humans. You can talk to us. You can up up and be like, 'the park's closed.' Is there lights at that place? If there are, they need to be turned off when the sun goes down. Kids can't skate after dark. There are so many solutions to this that there shouldn't be people that are instantly like 'this is a bad thing, this is bad.' Skateboarding saved my life. I'm from a family of 13, I grew up with nothing, now I have a 6-thousand square foot home. Do you realize that without skateboarding, especially living in Rhode Island, I wouldn't have become nothing. There's kids that need this. There's a next generation of kids that, what else do they know, besides skating. Once they can't skate, what do you think they're going to turn to. You guys have to look at this as, this is not just building a skate park, this is paving the future for a lot of the kids from the whole of Aquidneck Island. This is not just building a skate park, you guys are looking at it the wrong way. This is an outlet for kids. You'd rather have kids running around your neighborhood, breaking into your homes, stealing, breaking stuff, or would you rather have a pack of kids in the skate park. Granted, a lot of skateboarders do have foul mouths. That is true. I respect that 100%. A lot of skateboarders are, foul, you know, but to instantly stereotype a person like that, it's a bad trait that humans have. But with that being said, a skate park that's built for the younger kids is a great, great, great outlet for them. It's a great way for them to disperse their energy. When kids are in the house, running around constantly, what do they have to do? Videogames and sweets. Oh, I'm going to bring my 9-year-old son down to the skate park, let him skate around for a little bit, he's going to have a blast, we go home and read a book, go right to sleep.

McINTYRE
Thank you.

BRATHWAITE
I don't think you guys should instantly oppose this thing. It's something that needs to be thought about. There's pros and there's cons, it's like building a basketball court, building a baseball court. Someone said that police and ambulances... all you guys pay taxes here, right, I do. All of our tax dollars are already going to these resources.

McINTYRE
Thank you very much. Dennis?

COUNCILOR DENNIS CANARIO
Just wanted to get your name?

BRATHWAITE
Aquiel Brathwaite, B-R-A-T-H-W-A-I-T-E

CANARIO
You're a very intelligent young man, thank you very much

BRATHWAITE
Just trying to show you that not all of us are ignorant people. I'm sorry that I didn't take my shirt off (inaudible) but I still have to hold my ground somewhat.

GLEASON
I have a question, Mr. McIntyre. I don't mind your shirt, your whole shirt. I mind the fact that you're throwing the finger on that shirt and...hold on a minute, I'm speaking, and then you're going to have a turn. Because what we have are some issues that have come up. And some concerns. And you are role modeling for our youngsters that are going to be at this park, alright, 8-year-olds, 9-year-olds, 10-year-olds, okay? Now, hm. Now what I would ask you, and your friends out in the hall, who kinda got offended with me because I asked you to turn your shirt around or inside out...listen, I'm not interested in the money, okay, what I'm interested in is, we need to come up with some kind of an agreement that everyone in the neighborhood is going to be satisfied and is going to accept. We can't have a war here. We got people sitting on one side of the room and people sitting on the other side of the room, and, it's you folks that are going to make this or break this. Because if you don't make it, they're going to be back before us three months from now, you spent fifty-thousand dollars and we have to take everything apart. [6:18] So I'm going to ask you folks, are you going to show up not wearing profanity shirts? Are you going to use, allow profanity on the playground when there's other kids younger than you there, because if you are, I'm going to personally come down there myself and say look this is not acceptable. And, number three, are you going to set up a little committee that's going to have littering, and by the way we do recycle in this town, you going to have a recycling bin for us?

BRATHWAITE
First and foremost, we should already have things set up that deal with the trash, that deal with the...

GLEASON
Are you folks going to do this?

BRATHWAITE
If I have to move back to Rhode Island, to ensure that the kids of Rhode Island have a park to skate? I will. I just flew 3,000 miles to talk with you.

GLEASON
And they have an issue with swearing, profanity. How are you going to handle that?

BRATHWAITE
Once again, you can't...Freedom of Speech. (inadudible) I personally will voice my opinions to the person, I have no problem doing that.

GLEASON
What about your friends behind there?

BRATHWAITE
My friends, behind me, first and foremost what they did...

COUNCILOR JEFF PLUMB
Mr. President, I'd like to move the question. I think we've debated this long enough.

GLEASON
Well, wait a minute now...we need to settle this. We can't just have people walking out without an agreement.

[VOICE]
He's not part of our group

GLEASON
I know, but he's going to be a role model...

PLUMB
Move the question

McINTYRE
We've heard both sides here now tonight, what I'm going to tell you is what I think, and then the Council will decide what they're going to do. I don't know why the two sides can't get together here, cuz is looks like you have a side here that has worked since 1996, Mr. Dennis Canario here was a detective at that time, so what I'd like to see you do is both sides get together and come up with a workable system. What I'm hearing here tonight is that this is not going to be a large skate park, it's going to be for younger children. [voices]

GLEASON
Don't leave...

McINTYRE
Karen, please

GLEASON
They're having a problem back there, they're saying that it's not true

McINTYRE
Just...please...Karen... We've heard your side, we've heard both sides, I'd like to hear the Council what they have to say.

Full disclosure: I am a resident of Island Park and a member of the group supporting the skate park.

Cross-posted at RI Future.

Update: Correction to Aquiel Brathwaite's first name. The sound system wasn't working in the chamber on Monday, but that's really no excuse. Just missed this one. Sorry.