Councilman are elected to serve the people of the cities and towns they live in, so when a person in power issues a threat to a citizen, it isn't taken lightly. That's exactly what happened in one small town in North Carolina over the summer.
Quentin Jackson, a councilman in Hertford, a small town in the Inner Banks, was sentenced on Wednesday (October 6) to serve time in jail after threatening a citizen at a town council meeting on July 6, WRAL reports.
According to The Daily Advance of Elizabeth City, Patrick Morrissey approached the council dais while arguing with Jackson during the meeting, with the latter threatening to knock the him out or "put him to sleep," according to a criminal complain filed by Morrissey on July 12. Jackson said he stood up as Morrissey approached because he "expected a confrontation," according to the news outlet.
Jackson was sentenced to five days in jail, ordered to pay $75 plus court costs and told to have no contact with Morrissey, but he has appealed the judge's decision. He was first sentenced to 120 days in jail, but the judge suspended the sentence and ordered him to serve 12 months of supervised probation.
After filing his appeal, he was placed under a $5,000 unsecured bond and reportedly declined to comment when contacted by the newspaper.