It's not every day that a city council meeting goes massively viral, but that's exactly what brings me here today.
At a city council meeting Tuesday night in Tucson, Arizona, councilors had voted to put a proposed "sanctuary city" measure on the November ballot when things suddenly took a turn.
Scene inside a Tucson City Council Meeting. Officials voted to put a "Sanctuary City" measure on the November ballot
A sanctuary city is a jurisdiction that limits cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
A woman in the audience wearing a Make America Great Again hat began protesting the measure, shouting that the city "should not change or defy immigration laws."
She then held up this racist sign as people booed over her.
And while such rhetoric is dangerous, hurtful, and deeply upsetting, a guy sitting near the woman couldn't believe "how absurd it...all was" and started laughing HYSTERICALLY in the woman's face.
She continued shouting, and Green Shirt Guy, whose real name is Alex Kack, continued laughing.
Then, when she yelled, "You're in direct violation of the oath you took to the United States constitution," a guy behind her responded, "You're in direct violation of being a jackass," bringing Green Shirt Guy to the point of tears.
Kack, who is a field organizer for the Peoples Defense Initiative and who was there to support the measure, told Mashable, "Who has the time in their day to come into a public space just to spread hatred and negativity? Like honestly what happened that made them so ridiculous and hateful?"
Video of the meeting went viral, and people couldn't get over his infectious laughter.
Absolute legend.
Even Chrissy Teigen chimed in, saying that Green Shirt Guy's reaction "completely nullifies any dumb shit that woman is saying."
there is something about #greenshirtguy that completely nullifies any dumb shit that woman is saying. you forget about her completely. he consumes you. in any other context, without him laughing, it would make you sad. but this makes you happy. yelling is fun. but this is better.
So, finally, while I can't promise it'll work every time, there is something to be said for laughing in the face of ignorance. Just ask Green Shirt Guy.
our heroes are not big politicians. they are people who yell or literally laugh in the faces of insanity. please, everyone, do either.