Pickleball court 'fist fight​' over Trump prompts CA retirement community to 'crack down on free speech'

After a political brawl over GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump occurred at the Rossmoor retirement community in Contra Costa County, California, the community imposed some political restrictions on its residents. And those restrictions, according to San Francisco Chronicle reporter Joe Garofoli, have inspired a backlash.

Garofoli reports, "Inflamed by a fist fight between two women on the pickleball court at the 55-and-over community, the tensions have escalated to include complaints of an authoritarian crackdown on free speech — including restrictions on public demonstrations on its lush grounds and on political commentary in the Rossmoor News. Some residents say more than their free speech is being impinged."

The Chronicle reporter adds, "They call the restrictions 'infantilizing' for an age group whose members can be sensitive about being told what to do and what's best for them. For them, the new rules are akin to taking the free speech keys from Grandma and Grandpa, decades after this generation's seniors used them to transform society during the Civil Rights era."

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Katha Hartley, director of a speakers program in the community, believes the restrictions are a bad way to handle political disagreements among retirees.

Hartley told the Chronicle, "Banning the political columns are not going to bring peace to Rossmoor. They're not. They are, in fact, exacerbating the problem. We're being treated like kids in a high school cafeteria where two people had a food fight, and now, everyone's on suspension."

In California, climate change has been making it more difficult to insure property. And Garofoli cites the need for insurance as a factor in the community's political restrictions.

"Because of California's insurance crisis," Garofoli explains, "it has become harder to obtain fire coverage for people who want to buy a residence in the community. So realtors are skittish about anything that could deter sales there, like demonstrations."

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Read the San Francisco Chronicle's full report at this link (subscription required).