GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A northern Michigan woman who says she had an AR-15 rifle pulled on her during a virtual public meeting contends the actions by a Grand Traverse County commissioner was done to “send a message of fear,’’ a lawsuit claims.
Commissioner Ron Clous had a “menacing smirk while brandishing his weapon,’’ during a January 20 virtual Board meeting, according to the federal lawsuit filed Monday.
It came while 74-year-old Patricia MacIntosh addressed the Grand Traverse County Board of Commissioners during a live-streamed public meeting.
MacIntosh asked commissioners to make a public statement to condemn the violent behavior by the Proud Boys group during the insurrection at the nation’s Capitol building on Jan. 6, the suit claims.
Members of the Proud Boys addressed the county Board last year on designating Grand Traverse County as a “Second Amendment sanctuary.”
Clous briefly disappeared from view, and returned “with a high powered, semi-automatic weapon brandishing it at (MacIntosh) and others,’’ the lawsuit states.
The weapon display under these circumstances “was shocking and outrageous in a civilized society,’’ according to the lawsuit.
It was done to quell free speech and served as “a symbolic message to ‘stop or else,’’’ the lawsuit claims.
Since the incident, MacIntosh suffers from “insomnia, migraine headache, nightmares, heart palpitations, nausea, weight loss and tremors, among others,’’ according to the 17-page lawsuit.
Attorney Blake Ringsmuth has scheduled a news conference for Tuesday, April 13 in Traverse City. The federal lawsuit names Clous and Grand Traverse County as defendants.
“The County Commission had additionally failed to censure Clous’s threatening behavior or move to prevent him or other commissioners from similar unconstitutional actions in the future,’’ Ringsmuth said in a news release.
A message to Clous and county officials seeking comment hadn’t been returned Monday afternoon.
The January incident garnered headlines across the nation and prompted efforts to have Clous resign.
A letter calling for the resignation of Clous has garnered more than 1,530 signatures, the suit claims. At a late January meeting, Board members heard more than four hours of public comment. "The great majority expressed shock, fear and anger,’’ the lawsuit states.
MacIntosh contacted police and filed a report, which resulted in “multiple threatening anonymous communications.’’
The calls to MacIntosh, who lives alone, “are particularly terrifying.’’
“The brandishing of a deadly high-powered rifle at a public meeting . . . implies the risk of grievous bodily harm or death if the unwanted conduct continues,’’ the lawsuit states.
MacIntosh “felt fearful, intimidated and physically threatened, which continues today,’’ according to the lawsuit.
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