The scuffle in Lexington’s public library last month was short but seen by thousands: a patron grappled with another man as they wrestled over a camera tripod, as the confrontation was livestreamed on YouTube.
Two men, Joshua Abrams and Leonard Filipowski, had set up the camera inside the library to conduct a so-called First Amendment audit, a kind of performative protest that tests their free speech rights by confronting government employees in public places, often provoking objections that generate viewership.
It sure enough worked in Lexington, though in this case it was a private citizen, the library patron, who reacted. Abrams and Filipowski egged on the man until the patron got so angry that he wrestled the tripod from Filipowski’s hands. He then ran to the library’s front desk, where staff called Lexington police for help.
