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Rabbi Gets Escorted From Arizona Council Meeting After Prayer Protest

By Amanda Luberto
Published: Thursday, February 11, 2016 - 5:44pm
(Photo by Matthew Casey - KJZZ)
A Chino Valley seal sits near the entrance to the Town Hall.

Rabbi Adele Plotkin of Chino Valley was taken out of a town council meeting Tuesday night after she stood in protest against Mayor Chris Marley, who announced he was going to do an invocation in the name of Jesus. Marley promised a moment of silence for two meetings after a different rabbi complained in December, but he did not follow through.

"Under that false impression, I went because I thought I was going to be safe," she said.

Plotkin was escorted out after she told Marley she was uncomfortable and that he had promised differently. When asked if she thinks this will inspire change, she did not seem hopeful.

“This isn’t a majority vote issue, it’s a minority rights issue," she said.

Marley said following the meeting that he felt like he had to do the invocation despite what he had said previously because fellow council members said he should. He argued that he feels the country has lost other freedoms, but he refuses to let his right to pray be taken away.

Plotkin said she has received overwhelming support from people in and out of her Beit Torah congregation about the issue.

"People have even stopped me in the grocery store," she said.

As of now, the council voted to make no changes to their system. The mayor did not respond to requests for an interview.