Bundy-backing Vegas councilwoman threatens critics at meeting: 'If I hear a boo I will have marshals remove you!'
A Las Vegas city councilwoman who supports scofflaw rancher Cliven Bundy threatened to have critics removed from a public meeting that grew heated.
The city is looking to annex more than 800 acres of land currently owned by Clark County, which would increase property taxes for some homeowners by an average of $341, reported KTNV-TV.
More than a dozen speakers — most of them opposed to the annexation — showed up Monday for a lengthy hearing on the matter, and councilwoman Michele Fiore grew angry after one resident asked why she appeared to be checking her phone instead of listening.
"Things that we're doing up here, you don't know," said Fiore, who claimed she was communicating with a Clark County commissioner.
She threatened to have some of the opponents removed for behavior she deemed disrespectful.
"If I personally hear a boo I will have the marshals remove you!" Fiore warned
Las Vegas is hoping to annex "islands" of property owned by the county but surrounded by the city to streamline services, but some residents see the plan as a cash grab and don't want to pay higher taxes or face new regulations that could come with the change.
"The words that I'm hearing from you guys is very disheartening, because they're simply false statements and not true," said Fiore, a Republican former state lawmaker who helped negotiate the end of a standoff by anti-government militants at an Oregon wildlife refuge.
She grew frustrated after listening to residents voice their concerns about the plan, and she shocked many by suggesting they would not be required to comply with new regulations under the annexation.
"I get what you're saying, but what I don't think folks understand is, we have code enforcement, right, and just because there's rules on the books doesn't mean they're enforced," Fiore said, as the crowd gasped.
Fiore previously threatened to have opponents removed by city marshsals from a contentious homeowners association meeting over a plan to redevelop a park.
"They were basically acting like Fiore's personal Gestapo," said Randall McGlade, a city resident threatened by the city councilwoman.