When Joel McAuliffe awoke in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on Friday, the Chicopee City Councilor said he planned to enjoy his weekend getaway with normal vacation activities.

Hours later, however, McAuliffe said he found himself inside the federal courtroom where Roger Stone, a longtime GOP consultant and former adviser to President Donald Trump, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Lurana S. Snow in response to charges raised as part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the 2016 election.

“I didn’t think I’d be able to get in, I figured there’d be too much interest. But, I got there early enough where I was one of 40 or so people in the courtroom,” he said, noting that he headed to the federal courthouse shortly after learning that Stone had been indicted and arrested at his Fort Lauderdale home.

McAuliffe said it was “pretty surreal” and an “interesting experience” to see Stone in handcuffs and witness firsthand the court proceedings that dominated Friday’s news coverage.

I woke up to the news & decided to head down to the courthouse to see if I could get into the hearing. Luckily I got there early enough & was able to get into the room that was mostly filled with reporters. No phones were allowed. Only about 40 people in the room. — Joel McAuliffe (@JdMcAuliffe) January 25, 2019

“It was very surreal to be in a courtroom with the special counsel’s office, which has been so secretive and under wraps, and to see lawyers representing Special Counsel Robert Mueller on behalf of the United States' government -- to hear those words uttered -- was pretty wild,” he said.

After the brief court proceedings -- which McAuliffe estimated took no longer than 10 minutes -- the city councilor said he decided to stick around outside the courthouse in hopes of catching Stone’s remarks to the media.

That decision, he said, led him to end up standing next to the president’s former adviser and asking Stone about the allegations he faced.

Per the @nytimes “A senior campaign official “was directed” by an unnamed person to contact Mr. Stone about additional WikiLeaks releases that might damage the Clinton campaign, according to the court document.” I asked Stone about that. pic.twitter.com/6l9bWSXK9l — Joel McAuliffe (@JdMcAuliffe) January 25, 2019

“If you ever told me I’d be standing next to Roger Stone, I don’t know what I would have thought. But I never expected to be doing that,” said McAuliffe, who vocally supported and campaigned for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Arguing that the allegations raised in Mueller’s investigation could turn out to be “the most consequential story of” his lifetime, McAuliffe said he felt taking the chance to experience Stone’s courtroom appearance firsthand "was important.”

The special counsel’s office announced early Friday that Stone had been arrested after a federal grand jury indicted him on one count of obstruction of an official proceeding, five counts of giving false statements and one count of witness tampering.

Mueller, in his 24-page indictment against Stone, alleged that he communicated with the Trump campaign and its associates about WikiLeaks releases involving Democrats' emails in the run up to the 2016 presidential election.

It It further accused him of lying to Congress about his communications regarding WikiLeaks and attempting to prevent another person’s testimony “in an official proceeding.”

Stone, however, told reporters Friday that he is not guilty of the charges and will not “bear false witness” against Trump.

“The charges today relate in no way to Russian collusion, WikiLeaks collaboration or any other illegal act in connection with the 2016 campaign,” he said amid “boos” and chants of “lock him up." “I am falsely accused of making false statements during my testimony to the House Intelligence Committee. That is incorrect, any error I made in my testimony would be both immaterial and without intent.”