By James F. Wolfe
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The Libertarian Party's state committee expelled Martin Lindstedt as a party member Sunday.
The Granby man, a committee member, was arrested shortly before the meeting began and thus was absent. He had refused party chairman Jim Given's request not to videotape Libertarians eating lunch; Jim Turpin, manager of the restaurant where the group was meeting, asked him to leave; he did not; and Turpin called police.
Lindstedt accompanied an officer outside peaceably but they then argued and the officer, Craig Klein, handcuffed him. He was given a summons to appear in municipal court May 13 on a trespassing charge. He returned to the sidewalk in front of the restaurant before the hour-long meeting ended.
The committee's vote was 28 to 1 with two abstentions. The "no" vote was that of Hal Williams, Joplin.
Moore alluded to lawsuits Lindstedt has filed against the party, party officials and public officials and said his web pages advocate "unethical, dishonorable and cowardly" tactics.
"Martin is not worth the time we are devoting to him, but we have no choice," Moore said. "this guy thrives on disruption."
Lindstedt, asserting the proceedings was illegal and that party officers had been elected illegally, had declined to name someone to speak for him. Williams defended him.
"He is a zealot," the Joplin resident said. "He values freedom to the Nth degree. He looks like a bumpkin, but his mind is a steel trap." He said Lindstedt's lawsuits should not be taken lightly.
Moore said members should not be afraid of the suits: "He files suits but does not win them. He managed to parlay a broken headlight into 30 days in jail," a reference to a Granby municipal court case.
Although Lindstedt is no longer a party member, he remains a member of its state committee from the 32d Senatorial District, because that is an elective office, Givens said.
Globe Special Correspondent
Page 1C, Monday, April 21, 1997