The displaying of a rifle while on-screen of a Grand Traverse County Commission meeting has garnered a federal lawsuit against the county and a sitting commissioner. Attorney Blake Ringsmuth represents Patricia Macintosh, who in January asked commissioners during a virtual meeting to publicly condemn the attack on the U.S. Capitol.
“Honestly, we’d be here if it was a gun, a knife, or some other threatening behavior,” Ringsmuth says. “It has nothing to do with that. It has to do with what we want to protect about our country. I can’t think of anything better than the First Amendment.”
Commissioner Ron Clous, who is named in the lawsuit, was seen on-screen leaving his seat to pick up a rifle. He held it across his lap for about seven-seconds. The suit calls for accountability, and asks the court to deem that behavior illegal and unconstitutional.
