ALLEGAN —

that an event to be held in the

High School auditorium was canceled and the auditorium cleared Thursday when authorities learned of a "bounty" on the head of a speaker scheduled to speak there.

, a self-proclaimed former terrorist, was to speak at 7 p.m. at the Allegan High School Events Center. As the time of the event neared, however, Allegan County Commissioner Bill Sage told police that there was a "$25 million bounty on Saleem's head," according to WOOD TV8.

Sage is one of the co-founders of the Allegan County political organization Constituting Michigan-Founding Principles, which was hosting the event.

Allegan Police Chief Rick Hoyer told WOOD TV that the event was canceled when police learned of the bounty and felt they did not have enough officers to make the event safe.

There were three school-sponsored sporting events at the school at the time of the event, WOOD TV reports, and those attendees were not evacuated.

Simon A. Thalmann is a public safety reporter for the Kalamazoo Gazette. Contact him at sthalmann@kalamazoogazette.com or at 269-388-8531. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter.