Mich. Speaker of the House’s office takes swipe at Lansing mayor over Quran-burning pastor protest
As the city of Lansing is preparing for a rally by controversial Quran-burning Florida pastor Terry Jones, a spokesperson for Speaker of the House Jase Bolger (R-Marshall) is crying foul over statements made by Mayor Virg Bernero.
In an Aug. 11 report on MLive.com, Bernero is quoted as saying Jones “is not welcome” in the city. The article concludes:
“„Bernero characterized the pastor’s message as “nonsense” he was permitted to “spew” under the First Amendment protections, but warned Jones against inciting violence and accusing him of doing so in the past.
“„“If he comes to Lansing, we will not hesitate to prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law for any actions that violate state or federal laws or our local ordinances,” Bernero said.
In response, Ari Adler, spokesperson from Bolger issued the following the statement:
“„Regarding Mayor Bernero’s comments — we are troubled by them. It appears the mayor has chosen to use selective enforcement of the law based on whether he agrees with a protester. Speaker Bolger has said repeatedly that law enforcement is one thing that should never be politicized. It’s great to hear that if there are legal violations at the Terry Jones rally that the Lansing Police Department will be on hand to deal with it. I would hope that would be the case regardless of who was breaking the law and what cause they were representing, but recent history proves otherwise.
Adler was referring to an incident at the capitol on March 16. During that incident, protesters opposing GOP policies had entered the Capitol Building but refused to leave. As a result, 13 people ended up arrested.
Lansing Police Department was dispatched to the Capitol to transport prisoners, but suddenly ordered to withdraw from the scene. Lansing Chief Teresa Syzmanski said the decision was made because the Michigan State Police had everything under control. However, a subsequent investigation by Michigan Messenger revealed that officer at the Capitol had called for assistance. When officers left, they found their cruisers blocked by protesters as well as a rolling dumpster.
The revelations from the Messenger investigation led to a taut meeting of the City Council’s Public Safety Committee, where the chief defended her actions that day.
Councilmember Carol Wood, a long time critic and opponent of Bernero’s, also expressed concerns about the mayor’s pubic statements related to Jones’ rally.
“The law must be enforced evenly across the board, even when we have empathy for a stance that people are protesting such as at the March rally,” Wood said in an email. “As chief law enforcement officer for the city — simply put — means enforce the law.”
Lansing Police spokesperson Lt. Garcia, Syzmanski and Bernero spokesman Randy Hannan did not respond to inquiries.
