WESTERLY, R.I. (WPRI) — A Westerly town councilor's behavior is being called "unacceptable" by a colleague after he made obscene gestures at a resident during a town meeting earlier this week.

The meeting, which was streamed live online Monday night, captured the gestures made by Councilor Robert Lombardo. The story was first reported by The Public's Radio.

During the meeting, resident Benjamin Weber addressed the council about what happened.

"I want to know what kind of circus you guys are running here, how you can allow a councilor to sit there and throw out obscenities out at the public," Weber said Monday night. "Six times, I just got flipped off, by a councilor, and laughed at."

He told councilors to watch the video of the meeting back, and asked for a vote to remove Lombardo from the council. Another councilor could be heard off camera saying they were unaware of what had been taking place, but that unruly behavior wasn't allowed.

"Apparently there's no recourse," Weber said.

Lombardo told 12 News he was unavailable to speak on camera, but explained his side of the incident by phone. He claims he didn't initiate the gestures toward Weber.

"We fight about things all the time," Lombardo said. "He's angry we passed a resolution and he flipped me off and I returned the favor."

"I shouldn't have flipped him off. I was retaliating and I shouldn't have taken the bait," he added.

Weber told 12 News on Wednesday that allegation simply was not true.

“I don’t warrant that behavior, I don’t condone it," Weber said. "Even if it were true, wouldn’t he have to hold himself to a higher standard?”

Ellen Kane, who watched the meeting on TV, told 12 News she felt the behavior of Lombardo was "menacing."

"Twelve-year-old boys know better," Kane said. "What also aggravated me is what it does to the atmosphere. It is intimidating to citizens who want to go to the podium and participate in the government."

When reached by phone, Councilor Kevin Lowther told 12 News he felt Lombardo's actions were "absolutely unacceptable on a number of levels."

"We need to do whatever we can as a council to make our colleague understand his responsibility to provide an inviting and safe space for the public to come with their grievances and issues for us," Lowther said. "Obviously that is not was happened."

Lowther added that it will ultimately be up to the voters to decide how to address the situation. He said he and another council member apologized to Weber after the meeting for Lombardo’s behavior.

Anita Baffoni, Erica Ricci and Tim White contributed to this report.