Bar squabble between Flint city councilman, member of mayor's staff turns violent

Two Flint officials are under scrutiny following an altercation at a bar last week.

Michigan State Police are investigating the Feb. 5 incident involving Flint City Councilman Eric Mays and a member of Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley’s staff, DuVarl Murdock.

Mays says he was attacked; the mayor’s office says Murdock was defending himself and he has filed a criminal complaint against Mays.

The incident came late at night at Rube’s Bar & Grill, 1117 N. Chevrolet Ave., after Mays left a turbulent Flint City Council committee meeting earlier in the evening amid calls for his removal from the gathering, video of the meeting shows.

Just a week before, Mays was removed from a city council meeting and stripped of his leadership roles on council for repeated outbursts. The councilman, who has a history of legal and political problems during his tenure, garnered attention earlier in the month for giving the council president the Nazi salute and referring to her as Adolf Hitler.

Mays said he arrived to the bar with five other people about 10 p.m., where he had a couple hundred dollars to spend, half on his group and the other half on the Michigan Lottery’s Club Keno.

Bar patrons were singing karaoke, including a song about the Flint water crisis, and he was drinking papaya juice, Mays said.

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Mays said when playing Club Keno at the bar, he and Murdock started talking about politics and volleying verbal jabs.

Murdock is the mayor's deputy chief of staff and is in charge of special projects, city spokeswoman Marjory Raymer confirmed.

Mays said Murdock pointed out Mays’ recent loss of leadership roles and Mays referenced subpoenas filed to investigate alleged influencing of the city’s mayoral election.

Mays, that night, suggested a subpoena be filed for Murdock, Mays said.

By Mays’ account, Murdock then referenced his missing teeth, Mays replied he didn’t brush them well, and then Murdock started lightly slapping the councilman’s face.

Mays said the mayor’s staffer started saying to back off him and the mayor because he was “from the streets.”

“At that point I said, ‘Mr. Murdock, don’t touch the councilman’s face without permission,’” Mays said.

Mays said he then called Murdock a “b***h,” Murdock told him not to call him that, Mays called him the name again on purpose, and then Murdock took a swing at him.

Mays said Murdock then grabbed him around the waist, took him to the floor, and was beating him when bouncers pulled him off.

A statement from the mayor’s office described the incident differently.

Mays was removed from the council meeting that night with assistance from the public for disorderly conduct, according to the statement. He was obviously angry.

“Murdock said Mays unleashed a series of insults and threats of violence at him, including ‘I am going to whoop your ***,’” according to the statement. “Mays then approached Murdock in a hostile fashion and Murdock defended himself.”

Mays said he called police, left for safety concerns and went to a hospital. The mayor’s office stated Mays was asked to leave the establishment, but Murdock was allowed to stay.

“Yet again, there are reports of even more inexcusable behavior by Councilman Eric Mays,” the mayor’s administration said in its statement. “This behavior is shameful and he is an embarrassment.

“We hope City Council will intervene to stop Mays’ ongoing mistreatment and harassment of City of Flint employees.”

Mays said he suffered an injury and scrapes to his back and he underwent X-rays to see if a bone was chipped when he hit the ground. He learned no bone was chipped, but he was bruised.

He wants the case turned over to the prosecutor’s office for felony charges.

“I got zero tolerance for somebody in city hall fighting or attacking anybody, whether it’s me or any citizen or anybody else, about talking politics,” he said.

Flint police handed the case over to MSP for a fair, impartial and transparent investigation into the city officials, said MSP Special First Lt. David Kaiser. MSP launched their investigation on Feb. 10.

A representative of the Flint Police Department could not immediately be reached for comment.

MLive reports the city's ombudsman is now investigating a claim against Mays.

Contact Darcie Moran at dmoran@gannett.com.