The town of Quartzsite, Ariz., has been in the headlines several times lately, and a state investigation was launched after such odd reports as:

• A man was ordered to give up his guns after he allegedly "glared" at a town official.

   

• A woman was forcibly removed from a public town meeting by police even though the mayor pleaded her cause.

   

• Some sort of secret decision was made to quit paying the mayor, as police officers were wrongly being fired.

   

• "Several hundred" emails prompted a declaration of a state of emergency.

Now the state has taken the unusual step of releasing a statement amid its investigation, confirming there is "reasonable cause" to believe officials in Quartzsite, after getting worldwide attention by having officers forcibly remove a woman from speaking at a town-hall meeting, have broken the law.

State Attorney General Tom Horne said about his investigation of Quartzsite:

Normally, we do not release the results of an investigation until it has been completed. However, because this is a matter of unusual public interest, we are prepared to say that, based on review of a video of a July 10 meeting, there is reasonable cause to believe that there has been a violation of the Open Meeting Law, inasmuch as the public was excluded.

The meeting was held under the misconception that an emergency meeting can be conducted without the public present. Independently of the question of whether the town council had a legitimate reason to hold an emergency meeting, even proper emergency meetings must allow the public to be present. The exception is if there is a legitimate basis for an executive session, and the city council did not attempt to hold a proper executive session during the emergency meeting.

The investigation of this and other alleged violations of Open Meeting Laws is ongoing.

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The controversy in Quartzsite began June 28 when a fiasco developed at town hall. As shown on YouTube, Jennifer Jones, publisher of the Desert Freedom Press, was physically ousted from a council meeting over the vocal objections of Mayor Ed Foster, who pleaded with his own police not to remove her.

Then, just days ago, Town Councilman Joe Winslow, who admits he's been diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, obtained from elected Justice of the Peace Karen Slaughter a harassment injunction against gem dealer and online entrepreneur Michael Roth.

As a result, Roth was forced to relinquish all of his weapons.

Winslow had warned, "I have been diagnosed with PTSD … 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."

Winslow claimed Roth verbally chastised him.

Town officials did not respond to a request from WND for comment on the pronouncement from the attorney general today.