Demonstrator Arrested at Beverly Hills Meeting

A demonstrator who yelled obscenities at Beverly Hills officials during a City Council meeting was taken away by police and arrested early Wednesday morning.

The incident came after several members of the audience urged the council to go beyond its resolution of last month that condemned the apartheid system in South Africa.

When the discussion was cut off at 1:20 a.m., Christian Smith, 22, stood up and accused council members and the city manager of racism, using four-letter words to stress his points, police said.

He was arrested on a charge of disrupting a City Council meeting, which is a violation of the Beverly Hills municipal code, and released.

The question of South Africa was raised by members of the audience who wanted the council to oust the South African Consulate from Beverly Hills, an action that city officials have said they are powerless to carry out.

Speakers who addressed the council said that other actions could be taken, such as issuing a statement of outrage at the presence of the consulate, or sending letters to Congress or the state Legislature.

Mayor Edward I. Brown, however, said no further action on South Africa is contemplated.