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Escalation in Arizona: Firearms confiscated

Joe Kovacs

Judge orders stunning action after councilman called 'turd'

Residents of the Arizona town that has become a YouTube sensation after police forcibly removed a woman speaking at a recent public meeting are now experiencing firearms confiscation by the government.

The stunning action is taking place in Quartzsite, Ariz., where Town Councilman Joe Winslow has prompted the seizure of guns from local gem dealer and online entrepreneur Michael Roth because Roth allegedly glared at the councilman, blocked his entrance to Town Hall and called him a "turd."

Karen Slaughter, the elected justice of the peace for the region, issued a harassment injunction against Roth on behalf of Winslow, the lawmaker who called for the silencing of pet groomer and publisher Jennifer Jones in the infamous video.

That original video of the June 28 town-hall fiasco posted on YouTube has been viewed more than 120,000 times.

"I don't know the source of his animus towards me and at this point I don't care," Winslow said of Roth at a July 19 hearing.

Councilman Joe Winslow of Quartzsite, Ariz., sparked the confiscation of firearms from town resident Michael Roth.

"I know that I'm 71 years old. I don't want to be a statistic, I don't want to go to jail and I don't want to go in the hospital. But based on my history of 24 years in the service, I am more concerned about my reaction to his aggression than anything else, especially now that I believe that he is carrying a handgun. His actions have demonstrated in the past to me that he is not in full control of his emotions."

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Winslow told Slaughter what he wanted was that Roth and others with similar views "not be allowed to walk around armed. To me, I'm not a psychologist or psychiatrist, but I have been diagnosed with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) ... that's what I'm concerned with, that he's gonna get so far into my personal space that I'm gonna react without thinking. I'm not making threats or anything like that. I'm not proud of that, but it's the way I am."

Winslow said he has been flooded with several hundred emails from Americans not happy about his demand for the removal of Jones from speaking, as he called her "disruptive."

"They're contacting people all over the country with similar political beliefs and that's why we had to declare a state of emergency, and Mr. Roth is involved in that," Winslow said.

As far as specific actions or threats from Roth that might warrant the restraining order, Winslow claimed on his official complaint form that on July 1, Roth blocked him from entering Town Hall and said, "Hey, Terd (sic), where's the keys to the arms locker?" Roth allegedly continued, saying, "Tell one of the other terds (sic) to bring out a key."

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