Morning Mix

A Michigan woman asked county officials to denounce the Proud Boys. One commissioner flashed a rifle instead.

By Teo Armus
Jan. 22, 2021 at 7:30 a.m. EST

Keli MacIntosh intended to speak before the Grand Traverse County Board of Commissioners this week with a straightforward demand: Would the board openly denounce the Proud Boys after the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol?

Members of the far-right group had addressed the Michigan body last year as it considered a gun-rights proposal, she said, and more recently, other Proud Boys have been identified as part of the mob that stormed Congress. So MacIntosh wanted her own elected officials to stand up. ... As she addressed the virtual meeting Wednesday night, the commission’s vice chair, Ron Clous (R), stepped out of the frame. When he returned into view, he was carrying a semiautomatic rifle.



MacIntosh, a 74-year-old retired nurse, grew terrified, she told The Washington Post. ... “He is supposed to be looking out for the best interests of the community,” she said of Clous. “What is the message he’s trying to convey? That if someone speaks out against us, we’ll just threaten them with a gun?”

Clous did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Post. But speaking to the Traverse City Record-Eagle, the commissioner said he reached for his gun in response to MacIntosh’s request.

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The commission chair, Rob Hentschel, erupted in response, singling the woman out. ... “I am not a member of Proud Boys,” he said. “But I do know a few Proud Boys. I’ve met Black Proud Boys, I’ve met multiracial Puerto Rican Proud Boys and they inform me they also have gay Proud Boys. I don’t see how that’s a hate group.”

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Teo Armus
Teo Armus is a reporter for The Washington Post's Morning Mix team. He previously covered race, immigration and identity issues for the Charlotte Observer. Follow https://twitter.com/teoarmus