Keli MacIntosh, a 72-year-old retired nurse and a regular at board meetings, spoke at Wednesday’s meeting about the importance of denouncing the Proud Boys’ activities in support of a woman who spoke before her on the same subject.
The first woman criticized the board for allowing group members to speak during a meeting in March about making the county a “weapons sanctuary”.
The woman and MacIntosh told the council that normalizing the Proud Boys, a far-right group, is harmful to the community and asked commissioners to denounce their actions in light of the riot on the United States Capitol on January 6.
“It is really difficult to tell the difference between the Proud Boys and the message they want through our state, how this is different from what happened in Washington,” said MacIntosh during the meeting. “Welcoming such a group and having that message spread has changed the environment in northern Michigan from a hunting culture to a weapons culture. And I am really concerned.”
While she lamented about the Proud Boys being invited to talk about gun rights, Council Vice President Ron Clous stood up and returned with a big gun, which he held briefly against his chest before letting go.
MacIntosh said she saw Clous standing out of the corner of her eye as she spoke, but was shocked to see what he said.
“My request was, you could make a public statement denouncing the Proud Boys, and your statement was to stick an assault rifle in my face,” MacIntosh told CNN. “I didn’t think he was going to shoot me on the screen or anything. But the first thing I thought was, how does one feel free to talk if he will not test the commissioner’s temper, or will you make him be countered on the embers by they. “
“I would also interfere,” said Clous. “I was just going to show the rifle and show that I fully support the Second Amendment, but I chose not to do it … I was at my home.”
Since the events of January 6, MacIntosh said she felt compelled to ask the council to publicly denounce the actions of the Proud Boys, especially because of what has happened in the state regarding extremism in recent months.
But after the first woman finished speaking, Rob Hentschel, chairman of the board of commissioners, interrupted the public comment period to address allegations that the Proud Boys were receiving preferential treatment.
“I’m going to take a short break now because of the hint of racism in this council, and because I take it very seriously. If any commissioner in particular wants to report any particular hate group, that’s fine,” said Hentschel.
He contested some of the claims about the March meeting at which the “arms sanctuary” was discussed before defending the Proud Boys themselves.
“I’m not a member of the Proud Boys. I didn’t give a Proud Boy 20 minutes of time at the commissioner’s meeting. But I know some Proud Boys, I met some. I met Black Proud Boys, I met Puerto Rican multi-racial Proud Boys and they reported that they also have gay Proud Boys. I don’t see how this is a hate group. And I really don’t appreciate this forum being used to spread misinformation about me or groups. ”
MacIntosh, who was called for public comment shortly after Hentschel’s statement, said she was already too nervous to speak because she thought she could be called the same way. The time came before she could finish her comments.
About 10 minutes later, she started receiving calls from the community asking if she was okay and if she felt safe. She said she got huge support from the community, including offers for her to temporarily stay elsewhere or even people offering to protect her home.
When asked by CNN whether he thought Clous’s actions were appropriate, Hentschel said he would not make a judgment about it, but that “he probably would not have done it alone”.
“Mr Clous did not break any rules or laws in what he did,” said Hentschel in a statement. “The allegations of intimidation are very exaggerated. The speaker has been a regular commentator for more than 2 years, which he has often criticized, but has always been well received by the Grand Traverse County Commissioners Council.”
Clous also told Record Eagle that he will not report any groups, including Black Lives Matter, NFL or LBGTQ.
“The only thing I know about them (Proud Boys) is when they came and talked to us,” said Clous. “They were probably the most respected people who got up and talked (at the March meeting). They were decent guys and treated us with respect”
MacIntosh said he filed a report with the Michigan State Troopers, but it is unclear where he will go from there. When asked if she plans to speak again at future meetings, she laughed and responded with a strong “Yes”.
“I may look like an old lady with gray hair to these people, but I’ll stay there,” she said. “We can’t back down, the reason our country is like that is because no one in Washington said anything about what was going on. We can’t let this go without contest, we can’t help fighting.”