Joe Sacco Running against Gary Reese for Las Vegas City Council

Joe Sacco, who is seeking a Las Vegas City Council seat, has spent much of his life fighting the powers that be. That includes fighting for free speech with his pants around his ankles.

Sacco was cited a number of times in 2004 for disturbing the peace at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, including once when he stood on stage shouting, "Freedom!" with his jeans down, according to police.

"My parents raised me to be a good American," Sacco said. "I was exercising my freedom of speech and expression, through nonviolent speech and protest."

Sacco, 26, graduated from UNLV in 2003 with a degree in criminal justice. All of the charges against him were dropped or dismissed, he said.

He is running against incumbent Councilman Gary Reese, a barber who is seeking his fourth and final term on the City Council. Sacco recently gained notoriety by participating in a sit-in at Huntridge Circle Park after the city closed it. He was arrested on a trespassing charge, which is still being heard.

The first incident occurred on Oct. 4, 2004, at the Alumni Amphitheater at UNLV.

Sacco was on the stage at 12:50 p.m. during a free speech rally shouting "Freedom," according to police.

"We observed that the white male adult was wearing his blue denim pants around his ankles, which left him with only dark colored boxer shorts covering his midsection," police wrote in their report.

Police cited Sacco for disorderly conduct/breach of peace and obstructing a police officer.

Sacco said those charges were dropped.

He explained his lack of pants by saying he was involved in acting and comedy.

"People were laughing. People were having a good time. I was putting on a show and expressing myself in a creative way. I absolutely don't regret it."

The second incident occurred on Oct. 15, 2004, at the Thomas & Mack Center, when filmmaker Michael Moore was speaking.

When police arrived, Sacco was lying on his back with an American flag wrapped around him in the arena tunnel, according to the incident report.

A witness there said Sacco had been walking around yelling, "Free speech," sitting in various seats and blocking the view. An usher said Sacco had been talking and bumping into other patrons, according to the police report.

When security asked him to leave, Sacco refused. When security tried to escort him out, Sacco "went limp and fell to the ground," according to the report.

Security "dragged Sacco out of the TMC and into the tunnel," where eight police officers would eventually respond, according to the report.

He was cited for trespassing and committing an act in a public building interfering with the peace.

Sacco said a judge threw out those charges.

Sacco said he was saying, "No more war."

"I believe I was kicked out because my freedom of speech was being limited," he said. "I was not disturbing the event. I was showing what a good American, a true patriot does."

UNLV records show the disposition of the cases as "cleared."

Gary Gray, political consultant for Reese, paused a long time when told of the incident reports.

"Wow, you really caught me with my pants down on that question," he said.

But seriously, folks.

"It shows the difference between Gary Reese, who's been very steady, very reliable, always can be counted on, and Mr. Sacco, who has spent most of his short lifetime attracting attention to himself," he said.

Though Sacco has no regrets about his past actions, he said his tactics have evolved to where he wants to work for change within the system.

"I've learned a lot from those experiences, and my activism has progressed to where I'm ready work in the system, where I can make a change," he said.

If elected, Sacco said, he would continue to support those who wanted to demonstrate. But he wouldn't be a part of them.

"I'll certainly have my hands full in being responsible and accountable to Ward 3 residents. I'll not be organizing political protests, but will absolutely support grass-roots organizations."

Review-Journal staff writer Lawrence Mower contributed to this report.