Board Member Held Gun On Video When Asked To Denounce Proud Boys

TRAVERSE CITY, MI — The calls are growing for the resignation of Ron Clous, a Grand Traverse County commissioner who showed a gun during a video meeting when a public speaker asked the commission to issue a statement denouncing the Proud Boys hate group.

Clous was at home, but live on video during a Webex meeting of the board when he held a gun up to his chest as the public speaker, Kelli MacIntosh, made the request, CNN and others have reported.

MacIntosh spoke following another woman who criticized the board for allowing two members of the Proud Boys to speak last March before passing a resolution backing the Second Amendment. The March meeting was called by some looking to make Grand Traverse County "a gun sanctuary," the first woman said, according to CNN.

MacIntosh and the other woman brought up the issue now in the wake of the Proud Boys' alleged involvement in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

During MacIntosh' speech, the video shows Clous getting up, returning with a large gun and holding it briefly to his chest before putting it down, according to several reports.

Clous told the Traverse City Record-Eagle he planned to speak on the issue as well, and to show the rifle as a way to point out he supports the Second Amendment.

"But then I opted not to... I was in my home," he told the newspaper.

MacIntosh told CNN her request was for a statement denouncing the hate group, and that statement "was to shove an assault rifle in my face."

"I didn't think he was going to shoot me through the screen or anything like that," she said. "But the first thing I thought is, how does anyone feel free to speak up lest they do not test the temper of the commissioner, or you will be reamed over the coals by them."

A petition seeking Clous' resignation had reached more than 300 signatures within 48 hours, according to another report from the Record-Eagle. The petition also seeks the resignation of commission Chairman Rob Hentschel, who the report states laughed while Clous showed the gun.

Hentschel defended Clous, calling what he did "not threatening."

“It was a very bold way to make a statement, not something I would have done, but he didn’t do anything wrong," Hentschel told the Record-Eagle.

That's not how MacIntosh sees it. She told the Record-Eagle she feels threatened by the incident and has filed a report on it with the Michigan State Police, according to the Traverse Ticker. The case could be heard by a special prosecutor if it progresses, the report states.

"I'm not sure if I'm the only victim here," MacIntosh told the Record-Eagle. "Everybody who was watching that is a victim."