Veteran’s Microphone Muted While Speaking on Black Community’s Role in the Origins of Memorial Day

After a war veteran began to speak on the Black history of the commemoration, the organizer of a Memorial Day gathering in Hudson, Ohio, muted his microphone halfway through his speech.

According to the Akron Beacon Journal, the audio on retired Army Lt. Col. Barnard Kemter’s keynote speech for the Hudson American Legion was suddenly interrupted on Monday as he spoke about freed slaves being among the first to memorialize dead heroes immediately after the Confederacy surrendered.

Kemter tapped his microphone, made fun of the situation, and continued speaking in a video shared online by Hudson Community Television.

The Washington Post quoted Kemter as saying, “I assumed it was a technical glitch.”

The audio had been turned down on purpose, according to Cindy Suchan, an event organizer, since Kemter’s comments were “not relevant to our program for the day,” which was “honoring Hudson veterans.”

After two minutes, the audio was restored.

According to Suchan, Kemter was urged “to modify his speech, and he chose not to do that.” After a sound engineer declined to comply with their request, Suchan and another organizer, Jim Garrison, were in charge of muting the microphone.

“I find it interesting that (the American Legion) … would take it upon themselves to censor my speech and deny me my First Amendment right to [freedom of] speech,” Kemter told the Beacon Journal. “… This is not the same country I fought for.”