Elected officials have the same Freedom of Speech rights as all of us, but there is a scenario playing out in the city of Allentown that is being closely watched by politicians across the state to determine where lines should be drawn.

After the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis earlier this year, Black Lives Matter protests erupted across the country, including in the five-county Times News area. Unlike some of these protests, which spawned destruction and looting, ours were largely peaceful and confined to marching, angry speeches and words and demands for changes in law enforcement policies and tactics.

An incident last month in Allentown where a city police officer was captured on a homemade video momentarily putting his knee on a suspect’s head in an effort to subdue him touched off a string of protests, calls for the officers involved to resign and led to a series of demands to city council.

The officers involved in the arrest were cleared by the Lehigh County District Attorney’s office and the city police department.

Two council members - CeCe Gerlach and Joshua Siegel - have been frequent participants in these protests, not only in Allentown but in other area communities, including twice in Palmerton, and this has drawn the ire of three of their council colleagues, two of whom are former police officers.

Ed Zucal and Daryl Hendricks, longtime members of the Allentown Police Department who were elected to council after retiring, accused Gerlach and Siegel of endangering the lives of police officers by their vocal participation in the protests.

Zucal said although it was not their intention, Gerlach and Siegel by their actions were feeding into a “recipe for a deadly disaster unfolding right before my eyes.”

Civil unrest across the country has led to the death and injury of numerous police officers. In addition, their vehicles have been sabotaged, and they and their families have been threatened.

Zucal and Hendricks were joined by Councilwoman Candida Affa, and the three were said to be drafting a resolution of censure of their two colleagues, but the resolution was never presented at this month’s council meeting.

In the meantime, Gerlach, Siegel and community activists called for the resignation of Zucal, Hendricks and Affa for “failing to support Black and brown citizens.”

Last week’s council meeting became so testy that Councilwoman Cynthia Mota, a native of Puerto Rico, walked out of the session. The other council member, Julio Guridy, urged warring factions to keep their personal differences to themselves.

Zucal insisted that he is not racist and supports the Black Lives Matter concerns but drew the line when Siegel made public Mayor Ray O’Connell’s private cellphone number during one of the protests. Siegel has since apologized twice for taking this inappropriate step during what he called the “heat of the moment.”

Siegel also was called out after he was captured on a video saying “(expletive) the police.”

The question, then, is whether elected officials, who may ultimately be asked to vote on an issue surrounding the protest in which they are involved, should be actively engaged. Does such action compromise their ability to make an unbiased and competent decision? Even if in a best-case scenario the officials can scrub their decision of bias, can their perceived conflict of interest be just as damaging?

I strongly urge all elected officials to stay clear of active participation in these types of demonstrations and protests. You can voice your opinions in an official setting, but you destroy your credibility by shouting slogans, carrying signs and otherwise tainting your impartiality.

It would be like a reporter taking an active role in pro-life marches, then trying to write an impartial story about the demonstrations.

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com