An Alabama man who started a petition calling for the White House to allow his state to peacefully secede from the Union says he’s angry that the government forced him to close his topless car wash.

Disaffected Americans have created hundreds of “We the People” petitions on the White House website following President Barack Obama’ re-election earlier this month. There have been petitions from each of the 50 states requesting permission to secede.

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WKRG-TV managed to track down Derrick Belcher, the man responsible for the petition calling for Alabama’s secession.

Gawker noted on Thursday that the 45-year-old trucking company manager was really just upset because his Euro Details topless car wash had been shut down by the government.

But according to Al.com, it was the Mobile city government — not the federal government — that arrested Belcher and charged him with obscenity after the state of Alabama enacted an anti-obscenity law in 1998.

“The government ripped my business away, and now they’re choking America to death with rules and regulations,” the secessionist explained.

“The American people are being mistreated by the federal government and there is absolutley no reason why we shouldn’t end this treatment from the federal government,” he told WKRG-TV. “And I guess there is a part of me that is angry because my government has mistreated me year after year after year, and I am fed up with it and I know there are several other people in this state and all across the country that are fed up with it as well.”

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At the time of publication, Belcher’s petition for secession had 29,124 signatures, meeting the 25,000 threshold needed for a White House response.

Watch this video from WKRG-TV, broadcast Nov. 14, 2012.