WILMINGTON — Two locals arrested at an April 20 Wilmington City Council meeting for allegedly disrupting the meeting are no longer facing charges.
On Friday, the cases against Darrell Petrey of Clarksville, and Tony Thomas of Wilmington, were dismissed in Clinton County Municipal Court.
Their attorney, Matthew Miller-Novak, told the News Journal the cases were “obtuse” from the beginning.
“(The cases) showed disdain for both the First and Fourth Amendments of the United States Constitution. Wilmington’s elite may find my clients persona non grata, but that never gave them the right to abuse their police power to punish these men for protected criticisms of their public officials. That is simply not how we roll in America,” said Miller-Novak.
The two were arrested after making accusations directed at now-outgoing Wilmington Mayor John Stanforth.
In the motion to dismiss filings, Miller-Novak wrote that nothing the two did “actually caused any disruption in the meeting.” He added there was no heckling, fights, or disorder as a result of their comments.
“Essentially, this Complaint is comparable to a murder indictment where nobody was actually murdered,” the filing states.
Reach John Hamilton at 937-382-2574
