A New Jersey township council was serenaded with Morrissey and Lizzo songs at a meeting this week. Unfortunately for those council members, it wasn’t the artists singing their songs but average citizens utilizing their allotted time during a public comment period. A public access television broadcast uploaded to YouTube showed the latest public spectacle at a Cranford Township local government meeting July 7th by 52-year-old William Thilly, a serial provocateur during the public comment period who last year went viral for breakdancing at one of the meetings.
Instead of dancing, this time Thilly busted out a small speaker and began singing Morrissey’s 1994 hit “The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get” and continued to rhapsodize even as his allotted time ran out and police approached him ready with handcuffs. The police eventually ended the concert by dragging Thilly out and charging him with disrupting a meeting, according to reports. Video of Thilly’s recent stunt can be seen below at about the 47 minute mark.
Public Performances
Before his karaoke performance, Thilly had placed a sign on the podium reading “Refuse Govt. Abuse,” and spoke out against a lack of government transparency across the world, saying people can no longer accept this kind of abuse.
That wasn’t the only performance local officials were blessed with that night, and it wasn’t even the strangest. A man dressed as a purple bong, providing the name “Bongholeo” and carrying his fake baby “Bongholito,” gifted the public comment period with a rendition of Lizzo’s “About Damn Time” featuring altered lyrics about smoking marijuana.
Well, that’s another performance of Morrissey that was canceled.
The Cranford Township meeting has sparked attention for its unusual public comment period performances, with William Thilly being a notable example. His actions, although disruptive, have raised questions about the importance of government transparency and the need for citizens to express themselves. As the meeting came to a close, it was clear that the performances would not be forgotten anytime soon, and the Cranford Township council would have to navigate the aftermath of these unusual events.
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