An embattled Massachusetts mayor displayed a handgun during a late night meeting in an SUV with a city councilman, a move the councilman considered "intimidation," but the mayor said was a way of showing the rival politician how to defend himself, The New York Daily News reported on Wednesday.
Fall River councilman Jasiel F. Correia II alleges that Mayor William Flanagan, the subject of a recall petition which Correia signed, pulled out a handgun from the center console of his Ford Explorer and placed it on the SUV's dashboard during an Aug. 15 meeting.
"This is the mayor. I don't know what he's capable of. He didn't forewarn me he had a gun. I thought, 'This is ridiculous. This is crazy.' There's no doubt in my mind there was intimidation being used. No doubt," Correia said.
Correia said he mentioned the incident to Fall River's police chief, but has not pressed charges, according to The Boston Herald.
Flanagan said: "I was taken aback by the comments by the city councilor. They are unfounded and just not true."
Flanagan claims it was Correia who came to him claiming he had been threatened into signing the recall petition, feared the organizers and was considering seeking a license to carry a handgun.
"I deny putting it on the dashboard," Flanagan told The Boston Herald.
City Councilor Paul DaSilva - who says he joined the group midway through the encounter and only by chance, said he doesn't personally feel that anyone was threatened by the gun display.
City Council President Joseph Camara said the board will wait to see if the police investigate the event before taking action. He said of the late-night meeting involving three city leaders, a car and a gun "doesn't look good at all."
