Councilman criticized for role in Capitol protest
Marysville Councilman Aaron Carpenter casts himself on social media as a proud Republican, an advocate of free speech and gun rights, and a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump, even in the president's waning days.
It's his Trump loyalty that has drawn harsh criticism recently from those he represents as a first-term council member, given Trump's allegations about a rigged election, his invitation to rally in Washington D.C. last week and the ensuing mob of supporters that stormed the U.S. Capitol.
In Marysville's first council meeting of the year Monday, attended by about 50 people, two residents spoke passionately about removing Carpenter for attending the D.C. “Stop the Steal” rally and maintaining that the election and President-elect Joe Biden are illegitimate.
“You can't be both an arsonist and firefighter, just as he cannot be both an insurrectionist and council member,” said Zach Kisor, 26, who graduated from Marysville High School in 2013, a year before Carpenter.
“The time has come to choose between what is right and what is easy,” Kisor told council, asking for a resolution condemning Carpenter and action to remove him.
“I wish I was surprised, but I was unfortunately not, when I saw Councilman Aaron Carpenter attending this insurrection, live-tweeting the event just as members of Congress armed with gas masks were told to hide under desks and chairs, while Capitol police barricaded doors as they prepared to be overrun.”
Carpenter was in the front rows of the rally, as a VIP guest for Trump's Wednesday morning speech. He said it was peaceful, as was the march to the Capitol. And he's offended, he said, that he's being “grouped into this box of
people who stormed the Capitol.”
“I did not sign up for a riot,” he said. “All I saw was a patriotism and a genuine love for our president and this country.”
Carpenter’s critics began to emerge in September following a rally with the Marysville High School football team.
Someone named Justin Wood started an online petition to remove Carpenter for being seen with members of the Proud Boys, a far-right extremist group.
“Allowing the Proud Boys flag to fly in the same vicinity as Old Glory is disgusting! plain and simple,” Wood wrote then. “This was a slap in the face to every single one of those football players and every single current and past member of the military and first responders.”
Carpenter said at the time that he had no idea who they were.
At Monday’s virtual meeting, Carpenter, in a blue business suit with an American flag backdrop, praised his critics: “It is well within our rights as Americans to be activists, and part of that is getting involved in local government and making your voices be heard.”
In an interview with The Dispatch on Monday, Carpenter said of the Jan. 20 inauguration: “An illegitimate president is about to be sworn in.”
Kisor said that Carpenter has violated his oath to the Constitution and that his council colleagues are complicit for not speaking out.
“How can citizens expect you to effectively perform your legislative duties, those you swore an oath to do, when one of those very members contorts such plain truths with equally obvious lies?
“Either Aaron is mentally unfit to fulfill his oath as he cannot discern between reality and truth, or he is intentionally misleading this community. Both, I contest, render him unfit for this role.”
Tim Aslaner, city law director, said he’s discussed with council leadership “whether the city has any authority to discipline, reprimand or remove a council member.”
There is a recall process that would require the signatures equal to 15% of the votes cast at the most-recent regular municipal election, according to the Ohio Revised Code. It is unclear if the entire electorate or just Carpenter’s ward would be included.
A change.org online petition to remove Carpenter from office has tallied more than 1,800 signatures, but participants can come from anywhere.
Aslaner said the complaints allege “polarizing, controversial statements” that appear to be protected by the First Amendment, and would not rise to any level of malfeasance.
“If you are claiming publicly that the election is fraudulent, is that, in and of itself, a violation of the Constitution? I don’t know that it is,” Aslaner said. “He’s making the claim that in his mind is accurate.”
Aslaner said he has fielded up to a dozen complaints from residents since the football team rally.
Stormy Barton, another Marysville resident, said she wants to begin a recall process to begin immediately, nothing that “Carpenter claims he was 100% committed to Trump before, and, even more alarming, 100% committed now, after the hideous events.
“He is far more than guilty by association. He was part of the insurrectionist movement, even if his didn’t stand in the Capitol with his fellow insurrectionists.” dnarciso@dispatch.com @Deannarciso