By Tim Binnall
A conspiracy theorist has filed a lawsuit against a Florida county after he was forcibly removed from a public board meeting wherein he attempted to argue that the Challenger tragedy was a hoax. According to a local media report, the wild incident (seen in the video above) occurred at the May 21st meeting of the Brevard County Commission. Near the conclusion of the otherwise staid gathering that featured votes on various run-of-the-mill resolutions and ordinances, the agenda turned to public comments, which is when things took a decidedly weird turn.
Addressing the County's Board of Commissioners, resident Justin Harvey recalled the 1986 Challenger disaster that "launched not too far from where we're standing here today." He then proceeded to put forward the rather audacious conspiracy theory that "almost all of those astronauts" who perished in the tragedy were "alive and well," with some of them still "using the exact same names." As Harvey attempted to make the case for the jaw-dropping hypothesis, he was quickly stopped by board members who explained that the public comment portion of the meeting is meant for matters that are actually relevant to the county rather than exploring a nearly-40-year-old alleged conspiracy involving NASA.
In response, Harvey suggested that the location of the launch made it relevant to the county, calling upon the board to "question the science here" and "help me in sounding the alarm in asking the federal government for help." Alas, his entreaties were rebuffed by the commissioners, who promptly put an end to his presentation. When Harvey groused "thank you for taking away my freedom of speech today," Commission Chair Jason Steel furiously declared that was not the case and got into a spat with the conspiracy theorist's supporters in attendance. The showdown ultimately led to Harvey being removed from the meeting by police.
As this was unfolding, he continued to make the case for the Challenger conspiracy theory while being led out of the room, which led to Steel quipping that there is a well-known mental health clinic "right down the street" and "that's where I suggest you go." If the commission thought this was the last they would hear from Harvey, they were sadly mistaken as he subsequently filed a lawsuit against the county earlier this month. In his claim, the conspiracy theorist asserts that he was a victim of "viewpoint discrimination." Harvey is asking a judge to declare the commission's actions on May 21st as unlawful and pay his lawyer fees.