Michigan city commissioner defends affiliation with extremist far-right group

Kate Carlson | Holland Sentinel

FENNVILLE — Several members of the Proud Boys — an extremist far-right group with ties to white nationalism — came to the Monday Fennville City Commission meeting to support newly appointed commissioner Morgan Bolles.

There were about 50 people packed into Fennville City Hall on Dec. 16 for the meeting. Bolles was asked directly by one of the 19 people who spoke during public comment about how he aligns with the Proud Boys.

Bolles answered, claiming the Proud Boys are anti-racist, promote entrepreneurship, are pro-freedom, limited government, and want to “venerate the house wife,” he said.

″... That’s not a demand that women stay at home, but the ones that do want to stay home, we should praise them for wanting to stay home — take care of our children — not going to a babysitter or anything like that,” Bolles said.

The self-confessed “western chauvinist group” only permits men to join its ranks, is known for misogyny, glorifying violence, and is listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The group also is banned on Facebook and Instagram.

Fennville Mayor Tom Pantelleria kicked off the meeting with a prepared statement, and said the commission will “continue to support and represent all the people of Fennville.”

Bolles was not voted into the commission because he was one of two people who applied to fill a vacant seat left when former commissioner Danielle Brien resigned in November. He was appointed unanimously by the rest of council and sworn in Dec. 2.

Bolles had previously planned to run for a seat on the commission, but said he missed the filing deadline and then ran an unsuccessful write-in campaign.

Read more:

Elissa Slotkin's town hall provides stark example of nation's partisan divide

A fired coach, and a lawsuit: Hazing scandal rocks Warren De La Salle

The Sentinel learned of of Bolles’ affiliation with the Proud Boys after he was sworn into office. Bolles also posted a photo to his own Twitter page of himself on Sept. 19 wearing a shirt with the phrase “Socialism is for f*gs” with the vowel in the last word replaced by a symbol of a fig leaf.

The new commissioner also pleaded guilty to a moving violation causing death after a crash that killed a Sentinel delivery driver in 2012 when he fell asleep at the wheel and caused a head-on crash, which also injured a third person.

Since the mid-2000s, Bolles has been charged in at least nine court cases in four counties across West Michigan for charges that included assault and battery and operating while intoxicated. In 2012, Bolles was charged with three counts of third degree criminal sexual conduct (incapacitated victim), but was found not guilty of those charges.

When The Sentinel asked Bolles last week how he planned to effectively represent all of Fennville’s residents if he wears a T-shirt with a homophobic phrase and posts it publicly, he doubled down on the fashion choice.

On Monday, he made a two-and-a-half minute statement at the meeting.

“I am by no means a perfect person and I make mistakes,” Bolles said. “The definition of one’s character is how they recover from those mistakes, though. I’ve grown a lot since then. I only wish to be allowed the opportunity to serve my community and give back.”

Bolles said he never tried to hide his past before he was appointed to the commission, and the topic never came up between him and the other public officials.

“I’ve never held hate for anyone, because of their race, gender, sexual orientation or religious beliefs,” Bolles said. “I care about people. I care about our community. Moving forward, I hope to prove that I am deserving of this seat and I promise to do my best to serve the city of Fennville and all of its people fairly and equally.”

Public commenters were split on expressing their strong support for Bolles, and those concerned about the appointment process or his affiliation with the neo-fascist hate group. Most of those who expressed concern still wished Bolles luck in his new role.

“The first thing I want to say is how proud I am of my boy over there,” said Kyle Smith, a Fennville resident who was among the Proud Boys at the meeting. “This is targeted harassment, this is a joke.”

Another person who spoke at the meeting also said he was friends with Bolles, and said his T-shirt joke was in bad taste, but it should not measure his ability to do his job.

“As far as not being very (politically correct), the president of the United States isn’t very (politically correct), he’s said worse than Morgan has and he’s the president,” the public commenter said.

Former Fennville Mayor Dan Rastall said he is “all about second chances,” but what concerns him most is Bolles’ affiliation with the Proud Boys.

“You state that they’re about freedom, but they promote closed borders, so freedom for some or freedom for all?” Rastall said. “This is a country that was built on the back of immigrants. If the Native Americans had closed borders, none of us would be here.”

Rastall told Bolles that if he has hate in his heart, he hopes the new commissioner will step down.

It is against the city’s charter to do background checks on people who apply to fill vacant commission seats, Pantelleria said. Commissioners discussed potentially looking into the legality of conducting a vetting process for future appointees, but came to the general consensus that would put too much of a limit on who could serve.

Commissioner Jim Hayden said he was strongly against vetting applicants for the commission, and said the media should have vetted Bolles. Typically media does perform that role in traditional election cycles.

Contact reporter Kate Carlson at kcarlson@hollandsentinel.com and follow her on Twitter @SentienlKate.