Speakers allege veteran was excluded, arrested at Merriam community center event; call for council investigation

Public comment speakers at the Merriam City Council meeting said a U.S. Navy veteran was denied entry and later removed from a public event held in the Tim Murphy Art Gallery at the Merriam Community Center, and urged the council to investigate and adopt policies protecting free speech in city facilities.

The matter drew multiple speakers during the public-comment period, who described the event as an advertised public meeting hosted by a civil liberties organization. "The veteran, Dr. Justin Spies, had reserved a seat at that public event but was unjustly denied entry by the organizing political group after they confirmed his reservation," said Billy Kron, a Merriam resident who gave his address for the record. Kron said the group inside the gallery had signs and that others were allowed in while Spies remained in the hallway.

Dr. Justin Spies, who addressed the council during the same public-comment period, said he recorded his interactions and that Merriam police did not interview him before placing him under criminal trespass. "On the body cam one of the police officers even acknowledges that I'm recording," Spies said. He described being physically restrained, having property taken, and said the handcuffs were later adjusted because they left marks. He characterized the interaction as an unlawful arrest and cited the First, Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments in describing his complaint about police and staff handling.

Rose Gehringer, another resident who said she attended the event, told the council she believed the room was over capacity and said invitations she received were inconsistent about location and RSVP instructions. "It was a packed house, and there were people standing around the edges of the room," Gehringer said. She said she only learned that a veteran had been removed when she viewed video of the incident afterward and called the video "a bad look for Merriam" and for use of the community center, which she said is paid for by taxpayers.

Speakers named the site as the Tim Murphy Art Gallery within the Merriam Community Center and identified the group hosting the meeting as the ACLU. Dr. Spies named a responding officer, Sergeant Aaron Simmons, in his account; Sergeant Simmons did not speak during the council meeting. Commenters asked that the city open an investigation and adopt formal policies to ensure equal access to public forums and to prevent viewpoint discrimination.

Council members did not announce an investigation or take formal action on the matter during the meeting. The public-comment period closed after the speakers; no staff or council member committed to a specific next step on the record during that session.