Man creates disturbance on school grounds
Police say he is part of constitutional rights organization
A man who walked around a Holly school building, looked in windows and recorded video is apparently part of a group that travels around the state to express their constitutional right to access public buildings.
The unnamed man livestreamed his walk around the outside of the Karl Richter Campus and Holly Area Schools offices, 920 Baird St., and the village of Holly offices, 300 East St., on Wednesday, March 10. In his narration, he said that he was looking in windows and saw one person hiding under a desk.
His video shows two employees of the village or the Holly Area Schools approaching him and asking if they can help him. In both cases, he declines to identify himself or explain why he is there.
“As a result, contact was immediately made to law enforcement while monitoring the location of the individual outside of the building,” Holly Superintendent Scott Roper said in a letter issued to families on the day of the incident.
“I have remained in contact with the Village of Holly police chief. The suspicious individual was identified yesterday,” Roper said in a letter issued Thursday, March 11. “It was determined from their investigation that this person is one of several individuals who travel the State of Michigan to express their constitutional rights for access to publicly funded, government and police buildings and grounds, as they are public property.
“He was live streaming the entire event and is intentionally verbally confrontational if approached. His intent is to show the legality of physical access to government/public property while filming. At no time was there a physical threat to students or staff during the encounter.
“The Village of Holly has local ordinances that prohibits disruptive conduct on School property and charges have been filed under these ordinances,” Roper said in the letter. He added that the district also has policies that prohibit making a disturbance on school property.
The man’s video shows him filing a complaint at the village police station against the officer who confronted him. The man, who calls himself the Michigan constitutional crusader, said the officer committed misconduct by grabbing his arm during the incident.
Several times, the officer demanded to know why the man was on school property. The man responded with, “Shut the hell up and get back to work.” He told the officer he should learn the law. The officer later allowed the man to leave the school grounds.
The man said on the video said that the officer violated his rights by touching him when he had not committed any crime. The man said he was not trespassing as he had not been asked to leave school property.
Holly Police Chief Jerry Narsh could not be reached for comment, but he said on the police department’s Facebook page that the officer acted appropriately.
“The man approached active school classrooms and staff causing a disruption of school operations. The staff and students were placed in fear, not knowing his intentions. The village of Holly has ordinances protecting school operations and students from disruption. The officer was justified in making a physical custody arrest, but chose to de-escalate the encounter by allowing him to leave,” the police chief said on Facebook.
“Multiple criminal charges have been filed, with a court date pending. Holly officers acted in full authority and compliance within law to protect our students and staff. “
The incident prompted hundreds of social media comments for and against the officer’s handling of the incident.
Several people said on social media that their children were attending classes in the building at the time, and they thanked school administrators and police for protecting their children.