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Mayoral candidate Alex Tsimerman—most well known for his "heil Hitler" salutes to council members during public hearings—has been banned from city hall for a year.

Tsimerman violated the city's rules of conduct for the building and won't be allowed to walk through city hall doors until July 13, 2018, according to the Department of Finance and Administrative Services. The city sent a written notice to him excluding him from city property last week. Tsimerman denied any wrongdoing, called city officials psychopaths, and told PubliCola he believes the city violated his free speech rights. 

On July 12, the day before Tsimerman received the notice, security removed him from a public safety committee meeting upon council member Lorena González's request after he spoke during the public hearing. (Tsimerman spoke for about one and a half minutes and called council members "Nazi social democratic mafia," after which González told him he needs to speak about something on the agenda. After another 20 seconds of him speaking, González asked security to remove him.)

"Ask yourself simple question: Why I cannot go to council chambers and speak when trespass (doesn't) come from city council?" he said. "It's a constitutional crime."

Tsimerman got the longest period possible to be banned with an exclusion for a violation of the building's rules of conduct; Fleets and Facilities Department rules said the exclusion notice can be for a period of anywhere from one day to one year. The building's rules state that the length of an exclusion notice depends on the violation's seriousness, the number of violations, and the individual's prior record. Tsimerman told PubliCola this would be his third notice from the city and has been trespassed for a combined 900 days, including notices from King County and the Puget Sound Regional Council. 

Julie Moore, spokesperson for the Department of Finance and Administrative Services, didn't provide details on which rules he violated. Violations can include disrupting or impeding "the ability of city employees or members of the public to conduct city business" and "abusive or harassing behavior" such as obscene language. 

Moore said she "cannot speculate on a hypothetical situation at this time" in response to a question of what would happen if a mayoral candidate banned from city hall was actually elected. 

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