BATTLE CREEK, MI -- A Kalamazoo man sentenced to probation for crawling into an Enbridge pipeline as an act of civil disobedience will face a judge this month after a social media post critical of Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder's handling of the Flint water crisis resulted in an alleged violation.

Christopher G. Wahmhoff, 37, will face Judge John Hallacy in Calhoun County Circuit Court on Feb. 22 after a comment on Facebook was cited as "threatening behavior" by his probation officer in a show cause affidavit.

Two years ago, Wahmhoff was found guilty of felony resisting police and misdemeanor trespassing after he slid on a skateboard into an Enbridge Inc. replacement pipeline under construction near Marshall on June 24, 2013 and stayed there 10 hours in protest of the company's expansion of a recently ruptured oil pipeline.

The incident prompted a large police response and resulted in a suspended two-month jail sentence, probation and restitution payments to fire and sheriff's departments that responded to the situation.

On Jan. 27, Wahmhoff advocated for Gov. Snyder's arrest on Facebook by sharing and commenting about a friend's post regarding Snyder's hiring of a public relations firm amid escalating public scrutiny on the state's handling of an ongoing drinking water contamination crisis in the city of Flint.

Wahmhoff wrote: "so when ya'll are ready to march in and take his ass accross (sic) the street ,, I have my torch, I got warm socks.. I'm waitin on ya'll.."

Those words were quoted in a show cause affidavit filed Jan. 28 by probation officer Michelle Haidl, who wrote Wahmhoff "displayed threatening behavior on social media (Facebook) when he responded to a posting pertaining to the Governor Of Michigan hiring two public relations firms in lieu of hiring engineers to restore the infrastructure to provide clean water for Flint."

Haidl also cited Wahmhoff for failure submit a court-ordered DNA testing sample and pay $4,301 in restitution owed to Marshall Fire Department, Fredonia Fire Department and the Calhoun County Sheriff's Department.

Wahmhoff says he's currently appealing the restitution payment order and "I they took a DNA swab when I was arrested, so I thought I was covered."

Gov. Rick Snyder announces a request for $30 million in the 2016-17 state budget as a refund to Flint residents for water bills from April 2014 to April 2016 in relation the the Flint water crisis during a press conference at the Flint & Genesee County Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2016 in downtown Flint.

"I don't think this comes from the county," he said. "It comes from the same state that poisoned Flint, destroyed Detroit and didn't do things well here with the Kalamazoo River spill."

Wahmhoff's protest was triggered by the Enbridge 2010 Kalamazoo River oil spill, in which 843,000 gallons of heavy diluted bitumen spilled into a river tributary from the company's Line 6B, resulting in a $1.21 billion cleanup tab and $75 million settlement over what's called the largest inland oil spill in U.S. history.

Wahmhoff spent his 35th birthday lodged deep inside the pipeline, which was being laid as an expanded replacement to the one that burst three years prior. Police made small talk and fanned-in fresh air during the 10-hour nonviolent protest, which forced the company to shutdown construction for the day. He went on trial after a Michigan Appeals Court judge reversed a circuit court dismissal of a resisting and obstructing police charge.

He is part of the group MI CATS, or Michigan Coalition Against Tar Sands, others members of which have been arrested for interrupting pipeline construction. Before the pipe stunt, he was arrested during an Occupy Kalamazoo protest in 2012. Afterwards, he ran unsuccessfully as a Green Party candidate for the U.S. Senate seat now held by Gary Peters.

Wahmhoff said his Facebook post was a call for Snyder's arrest, not a call for violence against the governor (as others, like singer Cher, have done).

The governor's office, in the Romney Building, is across the street from the Lansing Police station. "My torch" was a reference to the cliched angry mob of citizens carrying torches and pitchforks -- which, he said, was meant to represent citizen-led dissent.

"I thought it was a common cultural reference," he said. "But, maybe not."

Nancy Costello, a Michigan State University professor and director of the school's First Amendment Law Clinic, said Wahmhoff has a strong argument that his Facebook post is Constitutionally protected political speech, not "incitement" speech that is rallying a lawless mob to immediate action.

"It's targeted speech at the governor, but he's talking about getting a torch and pitchfork. That doesn't really happen anymore," Costello said. "It's hyperbole. It's exaggeration. It's not something to be believed."

"Clearly, he's criticizing the government," she said.

But, not surprisingly, it may not be that clear cut. As a probationer, Wahmhoff is subject to additional restrictions on his behavior. Michigan general probation guidelines stipulate a convicted person "must not engage in any assaultive, abusive or threatening behavior." The Calhoun County Probation Office referred comment to the Michigan Department of Corrections.

"It's not specifically for him, but it was something decided he needed to have as part of his supervisory conditions," said MDOC spokesperson Chris Gautz.

Wahmhoff called the situation "a measurement of how lost the state of Michigan is." A protest outside the Battle Creek courthouse is planned on his hearing date.

Garret Ellison covers business, environment & the Great Lakes for MLive Media Group. Email him at gellison@mlive.com or follow on Twitter & Instagram