Michigan man arrested for taking too much time to talk during a small town board meeting

March 7, 2014 | Filed under: Activism,Crime & Courts | Posted by: Lou Colagiovanni

Man arrested and slammed to ground for taking less than a minute too long to speak.

Raw video of a Bridgeport, Michigan man being arrested on March 4, 2014 for taking too much time to talk during a township board meeting has emerged on Youtube under the anonymous moniker, “Carla Citizen.” No contact information is available, nor is any information available as to the identity of the man. There has been no coverage of this arrest anywhere on the Internet.

The individual who posted the video, Carla Citizen, has been responding to Youtube comments. Regarding why they were videotaping that specific meeting at all, they said:

I was not filming it at his request. I choose to do this on my own. As for the comment “that’s what he wanted”, that was made by another resident that was sitting near me, it was not made by me. Listen to the difference in the voices. My only remark is “this is going on the internet tonight”.

Whatever the dispute in question was is not known, but Carla Citizen says:

This video does not show 3 years worth of the battle between him and the township board but it is not out of context. It shows him speaking before the board and being removed and arrested. The video speaks for itself.

Upon examination of the video one finds a man in the middle of discussing his grievances to the township board, where apparently one only has the opportunity to speak for three minutes. The man is notified four separate times that his time is up. He is not notified that if he fails to stop speaking, or to sit down, that he will face arrest. In the span of 55 seconds the man is notified four times that his time to speak is up, and he is then summarily arrested not complying with the orders of police. The police interaction with the man by the time of contact, to the time of arrest was exactly four seconds. The man being arrested is clearly elderly and a four second window to comply with an order is unreasonable. The man was clearly turning away from the podium to pick up his jacket, and was then manhandled by police. As he is forced from the meeting by police Carla Citizen says in her summary of the incident that the man was assaulted by police away from the view of the camera:

Once they removed him from the meeting room it sounds as if he was slammed to the floor in the area outside the main room. You can hear it on the video tape. Outside as he was being put into a police vehicle they said he was charged with resisting arrest.

The man is seen on video being led out the door while saying, “Don’t take it so rough.” A police officer says, “Don’t resist.” and a loud thud is heard. The man is then heard yelling, “Now I am being abused! Get this on film!”

Video shows that the meeting was by no means a packed house. There were more empty chairs than chairs taken by attendees. It is not unreasonable to question what harm would have come in allowing the man another few minutes to speak. Put in the proper context Bridgeport is a town with an estimated population between 7,000, and 8,000. They are not managing billions of dollars and millions of people. They are a small rural town.

Had the board agreed with the man’s point of view, is there any doubt to if he would have been arrested or not?

If anything it seems the township and the board did this disgruntled citizen the favor of proving his accusations of a heavy handed local government for him on videotape.

As of the moment of publication Bridgeport had yet to make public the minutes of the meeting in question.

The full original text written by Carla Citizen:

A property owner in Bridgeport, Michigan was addressing his grievances at the monthly township board meeting when he went over the 3 minutes allowed for public comment. The police went to remove him from the meeting and when he didn’t comply in a fast enough manner for them, it sounded like they said he was under arrest for disturbing the peace. When he reached to get his coat is when several officers then grabbed him. Once they removed him from the meeting room it sounds as if he was slammed to the floor in the area outside the main room. You can hear it on the video tape. Outside as he was being put into a police vehicle they said he was charged with resisting arrest. I am not sure if that will be the only charge. He was going to the Saginaw County jail for the night I think and then he would be arraigned the following morning. I have no further news at this time as to the status of his case.

This man has had a 3 year ongoing legal battle with this township board. The Bridgeport Township board has a history of recalls, legal battles, court cases, this is not a one time occurrence for this township.

Lou Colagiovanni is the editor of ruthless-politics.com, National Crime Reporter for Examiner.com, and editor of the political discussion community,”We survived Bush. You will survive Obama.” You may contact Lou at [email protected].

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Lyric Thompson:

March 7, 2014 at 2:53 am

They didn't have to arrest this man !! What the hell is going on in our society when this level of abuse of authority is allowed to continue? The other part of this is the comment made by the woman you hear in the video.. " it's what he wanted " AH NO the man wanted to address his government which is not only the right but the duty of every citizen. Her comment is one from a person who basically does what they're told rather then what's right or actually legal.

Jesse Green:

March 7, 2014 at 2:00 am

Those two uniformed gents look like they've never met a doughnut they didn't like.

Jeffrey Bednarcik:
March 7, 2014 at 3:36 am
a doughnut or a dozen
Gene Roberts:
March 7, 2014 at 6:13 am
Isn't that one of the tubbies who arrested the jogger in Austin, Texas?
Sebastiaan Johnston:
March 7, 2014 at 12:43 pm
it shocked me, not because the arrested him ,But the fact it took the telly tubbies to arrest him ,[this is an english program for kids} i feel feel more sorry for the council ,they sound like red neck idiots with no sense??

Je Rolo:

March 7, 2014 at 11:33 am

Poor man has probably been voting for fascist republicans all his life and now he finally sees what he has been voting into office. :(

Ezra Brooks Katsoulos:
March 8, 2014 at 7:55 pm
Hate to tell you but Bridgeport is run by nothing but democrats
Donald Scott Agnew:
March 9, 2014 at 6:10 am
Bridgeport Township has been 'governed' by Democrats for most of my lifetime. The Democrats began to dominate Bridgeport politics shortly after Watergate. The last Republican to hold office was Bill Baase. He was a police officer who also worked security at the school district. I believe he left office in the late 1980's. This is not the first time the Bridgeport Township board was involved in controversial events. A few years ago Bridgeport lost a lawsuit regarding the creation of a new park entrance that they built on land that was legally determined to no longer belong to the Township. After that costly fiasco the residents of Bridgeport recalled nearly everyone on the board. Unfortunately the DNC political machine is so powerful in the community that the new board was all Democrats as well. I suggest that you do some basic research before you start to blame events on 'Fascist Republicans'.
Ezra Brooks Katsoulos:
March 9, 2014 at 6:03 pm
Donald Scott Agnew Don't you love it when these uninformed morons have to eat their words once in a while?
Donald Scott Agnew:
March 9, 2014 at 7:55 pm
Yes, particularly those who do not live in the area or moved away from it and thus have no clue as to what has been occurring for the past few decades. I am still trying to find out more regarding Mr. Adam's and his issues with the township, but so far I have received back very little information regarding my inquiries. I did learn from a neighbor that the Township has been after this man, in his words, "for years" and it is because of the continued harassment by local authorities that he records all of his dealings with government agencies. From what I can discern from the recorded conversations that I have come across regarding Mr. Adams it appears that the township is thwarting his attempts at starting a recreation type business on the Cass River. I have been informed that either the township, the DDA, or the DNR is planning a similar type of competing enterprise "in the future". I do not know if any of that is true or not, but if so it would seem that the township is exceeding its authority by selectively enforcing laws, regulations or codes to stifle an enterprise that would compete with a business that the township would like to launch in the future. In any case those prior issues have little to do with the situation here. Protocols for public meetings are pretty rigid. If Mr. Adams wished to have 15 minutes he could have requested it and the board should have approved it. Either that or the Township Board could have asked him point blank if he would like to address the board with 'new business' at the next meeting and they should have accommodated him at a future meeting.. Instead they basically tried to gavel him down and silence him and that is wrong. My assumption is that Mr. Adams felt that since these issues have been dragging on for years now that his issues are not 'new business' but rather old business that was never addressed or rectified. In that case Mr. Adams was correct in bringing his issues before the board during the public comments portion simply because he truly believed that he has been ignored and railroaded by the system. He mentioned in one of his videos that the Township did lose several lawsuits that he bought against the Township yet he is still being harassed and has yet to see any of his prior judgments rectified. In that case this may have been the only way to speak before the board and allow the public to hear the grievances he has had. In short, this issue should have never been allowed to progress to this level. It shows poor judgment on both sides and the fact that the police were there, in force, tells me that the board had planned for his appearance that night and was ready to use the authority and powers they have to physically remove him from the meeting. In the end it is yet another black eye for Bridgeport and that is the real shame here.

Mike Jolin:

March 7, 2014 at 1:48 am

RW fascists strike again

Mike Jolin:
March 8, 2014 at 9:31 pm
Yes, I meant Right Wing fascists, but, I was talking about the town council and the cops who started beating on the guy, once they were out of camera range, then yelled "Resisting arrest", not the poor man, himself.
Mike Jolin:
March 8, 2014 at 10:05 pm
Carla Citizen oh ok... well, they act like RW fascists, and yes, there was plenty of abuse and injustice in the video. I guess it's because here in Canada, you vote for the candidate in local elections, not the party, so, in theory, you vote for the best person for the job, rather than vote for their politics. In fact, they are forbidden to give a Political affiliation so long as they remain in Municipal politics; your system is very different, in many ways.

Lawrence Devine:

March 7, 2014 at 4:38 pm

This dangerous criminal has get the hell out of Michigan fast. He will be the target of every thug cop for as long as he lives there. It looks as though this town is run by people opposed to rational discussion and used to wielding authority against citizens.

Patricia Devine:
March 7, 2014 at 10:14 pm
unfortunately some "law enforcers" have become so "seasoned" that they can no longer see "the forest for the trees" they are so bent on getting the "bad guy" some times they lose sight of who the bad guy is ....... it is very sad ..... I think that their continuing education should contain as well as shooting ... life saving ... writing up traffic accidents ... they also need to review ? who is "the bad guy" ..... and why he / she considered "the bad guy" ... ?? who made the law that put him / she in the category of "the bad guy" ??? ..... unfortunately do not get a lot of education relating to philosophies or historical conjecture as to the reasoning as to why laws are constructed .... the law enforcement people just want to enforce them .... sometimes they don't even know why the law was created ..... very sad
Patricia Devine:
March 7, 2014 at 10:21 pm
After watching the video ... this man is exercising his right to free speech and due process of the law ...... let's not move to Michigan .... not a friendly place ......
Allen N Flora Plitt:
February 8, 2015 at 12:41 pm
Seems staged for video to me, which annoyed the officials. Kind of like Brown in Missouri.

Jeffrey Bednarcik:

March 7, 2014 at 3:35 am

more nazis

Victor Alp:

March 7, 2014 at 5:12 am

Land of the fee

Kay Sanders:

March 7, 2014 at 8:28 am

Maybe this gentleman 'wanted' this to be 'heard' as he probably realised his words here to the board would NOT be 'heard'!!!!!! Good on him, I'm sharing this post because he SHOULD be able to voice his grievance.

Ben Riley:

March 8, 2014 at 6:21 pm

I don't believe this is a case a republican versus democrat, like so many of you are saying. The fact is that almost every local, state and federal government is run by power hungry sociopaths and narcissists. This includes the police. People keep trying to say that it is the fault of the liberal or conservative agenda, but take a look at history, people. Policy doesn't really change as the transfer of power from one party to another changes. We need to stop focusing on trying to win a political battle with these folks. They are the ones with the money backing them, and that political battle will always be won by those with money. Instead of trying to win a political battle, we MUST start focusing on trying to bring about the end of politics. If we rise up against the powers at be in mass, they cannot contain the power of the people. There are so many more of us than there are of them! Politics breeds sociopathy and narcissism. By playing THEIR game, we become just like them. Let us take back this land...together!

Donald Scott Agnew:

March 8, 2014 at 7:36 pm

The man's name is Mark Adams. He lives on a small plot of land which borders the Cass River that runs through Bridgeport. There are other videos of him on Youtube where he addresses grievances with not only Bridgeport Township, but also the neighboring City of Frankenmuth. These are on the Youtube channel for Perry222777. Here is the link for a video going back to 2012: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjfugCkZKXI

Blake Bobbitt:

March 8, 2014 at 1:00 am

WELCOME TO THE PROGRESSIVE LIBERAL SOLUTION yes Stupid Americans this is what happens after you decide to allow the First Constitutional Liberty to be abused,it becomes common and acceptable, did this men removing the citizen not swear an OATH to uphold the Law? Well is the Law of the land not the Constitution? Seems not....

Lee J Lamberts:

March 7, 2014 at 9:44 pm

I'm wondering who the guy was in the dark blue jacket that followed the group out into the hallway. If it was a reporter -- and it appears it might have been -- I would like to see his writeup of the proceedings.

Paxeon Publishing:

March 19, 2014 at 4:54 pm

Anyone who thinks this has to do with Republicans or Democrats is an imbecile. Republicans and Democrats are two wings of the same evil bird. Make no mistake. This abuse takes place because there are forces at work that want to steal your rights and keep you enslaved. People need to understand the supernatural, spiritual forces at work taking over this planet that ALL of the ancient texts from nearly every culture warned us about, vehemently. They are real. They inhabit people in positions of influence and authority for purposes of control, which is why you see these happening within the court system, political system and corporations and why 99% of the time they get away with their abuse without any repercussions. Don't you ever ask yourself how that is possible? How can municipal leaders, politicians and corporate CEO's steal billions of dollars and never get punished? How can police engage in blatant, public and horrific abuse and never suffer ANY consequences, even when they are filmed and it is obvious that what they are doing is evil? People are blind because they do not know the truth about what is really going on and always chalk it up to 'the way things are' and say 'they'll get better if we just wait it out'. That's bullshit. Those are lies and anyone who thinks those things is part of the problem. It's time for people to get their heads out of their asses, stop believing the lies your government tells you and take back your money, time, freedom and lives that continue to be stolen from you. If you do not join together, you will suffer the consequences because your government does not give a damn about you. You are nothing more than a money-generating slave to whom they throw a few bones of comfort to keep you appeased and working. If you want to know the truth and adjust your life accordingly for what's coming down the pike, VERY fast, go to www.InnerCircl.us and learn the truth. What this man is suffering in this video is happening ALL OVER THE PLACE and just because you yourself have not been slammed on the ground, handcuffed and hauled off to jail unjustly, does not mean it will not happen. It's only a matter of time.

Joseph Vall:

March 7, 2014 at 10:32 am

These old people are fucking jelly fish. Spineless mongrel dogs! I hope this happens to each and everyone one of them and no one else stands up for them either. I am appalled

Jean Ochodnicky Owens:

March 8, 2014 at 4:31 am

I'm guessing there is a lot more to this story than what is seen on this video. Has anyone checked court records about his battle?

Bill Rainey:
March 13, 2014 at 10:32 am
Yes! I have set in on Marks court case to see first hand what was going on.Was't happy with what I saw. It is hard to win when the township has taxpayers unlimited tax money to go after you. No skin out of their individual pocket books. They even sent an employee to school at MICHIGAN STATE COLLEGE to learn what a farm is by definition to use aganist him in court. No joke!

Jim Mitchell:

March 7, 2014 at 3:24 pm

It's a police state. The cops are afraid. They run this way , they run that way, they are afraid

James Starks:

March 7, 2014 at 10:06 am

975% probability of him being a Democrat, and the council run by repukes.

Debora A. Carver Ellsworth:

March 7, 2014 at 1:21 am

I guess it's not just in Hinsdale.

Michigan man arrested for taking too much time to talk during a small town board meeting

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