Armando Herman is back at City Hall and showing no signs of letting up.
The retired former nurse and education worker, who has become a fixture at Los Angeles government meetings, stormed a personnel meeting attended by Mayor Karen Bass and senior city officials, unleashing a profanity-laced tirade that he filmed himself. Herman, who had already been hit with a one-day exclusion and three-day suspension for prior misconduct and yelling, erupted almost immediately upon reaching the podium for his allotted public comment time.
“I only get two f—ing minutes, sir. Relax. Relax. You’re f—ing stressing me out already, b—-,” Herman yelled, according to the video he posted online. When Bass informed him he actually had 60 seconds, his anger escalated further.
“What the f— is going on here?” he shouted, before accusing officials of “stealing” and complaining that he had only a minute to discuss millions of dollars affecting Angelenos.
“All you motherf—ers, all of you criminals. Corruption. It’s all corruption,” he raged at the assembled officials.
Herman then turned on an armed security officer standing nearby, accusing the guard of reaching toward his weapon. “Are you guys f—ing crazy, threatening me?” he shouted during the encounter.
The confrontation came on the heels of his recent disciplinary record at City Hall, yet Herman told The Post in an interview that he has no intention of changing his approach. He said the city “made me homeless” and that his experiences with LA city and county government have convinced him the system is thoroughly corrupt.
“Have I lost respect for the city of Los Angeles? Yes,” Herman told The Post. “Have I lost respect for the agency and department? Yes.”
“Have I lost hope in California, Los Angeles? Very much so.”
Asked whether he views his explosive public comments as exercising his First Amendment rights, Herman fired back: “Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely.”
Herman said his confrontational appearances are deliberately designed to raise awareness about what he sees as government failures. He believes the attention his tactics generate proves they are working.
“I love educating people and exciting them by stirring them up to pay attention,” he said, pointing to his interview with The Post as an example of that strategy in action.
His behavior has repeatedly tested the limits of public comment. On Wednesday, Herman returned to City Hall and had his speaking time cut short after yelling slang and slurs at council members while wearing a sweatshirt emblazoned with a swastika. He told The Post he ordered the sweatshirt from Kanye West’s clothing line, and it was not the first time the provocative garment had drawn attention. In April, Herman wore a swastika-emblazoned shirt while making profane gestures at LAPD officials during a Police Commission meeting, The Post reported at the time.
“Everything is the greatest show ever,” Herman told The Post about his ongoing campaign of disruption.
