Man Arrested on Birthday for Talking Too Long at Township Board Meeting; Faces 2 Years in Prison (Video)
A Michigan man is now facing a felony charge after he was arrested by local police for failing to observe a three-minute public comment limit during a recent Bridgeport Township board meeting. It was his birthday.
According to mlive.com, three police officers arrested Mark A. Adams, 59, on March 4 after he refused to stop talking when township officials informed him that his time was up.
Last Friday he appeared before Saginaw County District Judge A.T. Frank on a felony charge of resisting and obstructing a police officer and disturbing the peace, a misdemeanor. He faces a maximum sentence of two years in prison for the felony.
Before Adams began addressing the township at the meeting, he reportedly handed out a four-page document outlining 21 grievances against local government officials.
He alleged wrongdoings of various governmental bodies,, including violations of the state open meetings act and Freedom of Information Act, police harassment, corruption, hate crimes, trespassing, tax fraud and others carried out in "Taliban" style.
Bridgeport Township Manager Rose Licht said it was Adams who instigated his own arrest by refusing to stop speaking when asked to do so.
"He was asked to wrap it up by the township supervisor, and he refused and continued to talk over him," said Licht. "Several times the supervisor asked him to take a seat and he refused, and the police department asked him to have a seat and took him out of the building."
She explained that the issue between Adams and the township has been ongoing over some vacant lands he owns in Bridgeport Township.
"It's a long-time dispute," she said. "If he would have wrapped it up, he would have been fine."
In court on Friday, the judge entered a guilty plea on Adams' behalf, and then released him on a $7,500 personal recognizance bond. He was scheduled to return to court on Wednesday.
