Flint, MI– Councilman Maurice Davis said he has been receiving phone calls threatening his life.
Davis shared this during the city council meeting on Feb. 8.
He said the first call came the night after a special city council meeting was held to discuss violence in Flint on Feb. 2.
“We received…a very disturbing call, a very calm call,” Davis said.”This man said he gonna take my life.”
Davis said he wouldn’t go into thorough detail of what the caller told him, but that he was told if he didn’t pass something with council to approve moving $1 million into the police department, he would be killed within three days.
The caller, Davis said, called around 12 times and “everything out his mouth is political.” He said he talked about more than just the police department funding, and said things about how Davis should be recalled. But Davis said it all came down to the caller saying he was going to kill him.
“I’ve never had my life threatened like this. Now I gotta make sure I look over my back,” Davis said.
Mayor Sheldon Neeley said the administration and the police department are taking the threats “very seriously,” and investigating.
“We want to make sure that you guys can operate unimpeded without fear of being harmed or threatened,” Neeley told the council.
Councilman Eric Mays received threatening phone calls in July of last year. Councilman Herbert Winfrey speculated that the reason this happens may have to do with the behavior among council people themselves.
“We’re in a sad pathetic time, and have been, when members of council, whether it’s…Councilman Davis or Councilman Mays…whenever we’re threatened, whenever we’re physically assaulted,” Winfrey said. “…I don’t even like the meanness that we as council members press upon one another sometimes.”
Winfrey pledged not to be a part of any “hostile work environment.”
“Let’s begin right here with us, giving each other respect, and then those folks…who do all kinds of crazy crap, will see that we respect each other and support one another,” he said. “We don’t have to vote the same way all the time. But it still should not lead to any violence or any threats of violence.”
Davis said that was absolutely right, but all he can do at this point is be prepared.
“With all these killings, and the crime so high, we have to take it very seriously,” he said.
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