Woman says Michigan county GOP shared flyer justifying force, even use of cars, against protesters
By Jon King
A Michigan woman who says she unwittingly walked into a meeting of the Manistee County Republican Party is speaking out after attendees were handed a flyer suggesting motorists were justified in using force – including driving through crowds of people – to clear blocked roads blocked by protests.
Janet Stancliff, of Manistee County, told Michigan Advance on Tuesday she mistakenly entered the wrong meeting room Oct. 9 at West Shore Community College in Manistee. She had intended to attend a meeting of the local League of Women Voters chapter, with both groups scheduled to meet in adjacent spaces.
Stancliff said she and her boyfriend sat in the front row, unaware they were in the wrong gathering, and were given a sheet of paper titled “Manistee GOP Internal Memo.” The document, dated Aug. 14, 2025, outlines suggested positions for Manistee County Republicans regarding protesters who block roads.
The Advance was able to review the document, which states that protestors have “shown disdain and contempt for motorists and their passengers” in recent years “by preventing them from proceeding to their destinations, which could include medical emergencies.”
It goes on to say that obstructed motorists “do not appear to have certain knowledge about what to do when the road is blocked by protesters” and urges Manistee County Republicans to adopt several recommendations, including that motorists “are justified in driving their vehicles through the protesters to escape,” that they are “authorized to use personal force, including weapons,” and that drivers “as militia or otherwise” would be justified in arresting and detaining protesters. The memo further asserts motorists may sue protesters for damages.
While the flyer handed to Stancliff contains no letterhead or official markings, Duane Jones, the chair of the Manistee County Republican Party, confirmed her story for the Advance.
“The document was presented by a member at our October meeting. It is authentic, but is not an ‘Official Internal Memo’ as titled,” Jones said in an email to Michigan Advance. “No action was requested or taken on the content of the document, nor is it official policy of the Manistee County Republican Party.”
When the Advance asked Jones if he agreed with what was being advocated in the flyer, he said: “That’s not relevant.”
Stancliff said she was initially confused about the nature of the meeting.
“I started reading it, and I said to my boyfriend, ‘Is this a joke?’” she recalled.
She said the pair realized they were in the wrong room only after the meeting began with what she described as a lengthy prayer invoking political themes.
“We got up and left,” Stancliff said. “Afterward I showed the memo to my friend, who couldn’t believe it. I said, ‘I can’t believe it either, because I’m pretty sure it’s illegal to run someone over with your car.’”
Under current Michigan law, blocking traffic is a civil infraction, as reinforced by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, in a December 2024 executive summary in which she noted that protesting and picketing “are generally protected speech under the First Amendment,” and that local criminal ordinances that address traffic safety “should be applied reasonably and judiciously.”
However, legislation has been proposed to change that status, including House Bill 4664, which seeks to update traffic obstruction to a misdemeanor, carrying penalties of up to 93 days in jail or a $5,000 fine when the blockage occurs during assemblies of ten or more people. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Alicia St. Germaine (R-Harrison Township), passed the House in September, but remains in committee in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
Meanwhile, Senate Bill 500, introduced in August by state Sen. Jim Runestad (R-White Lake), who is also chair of the Michigan Republican Party, would shield drivers from civil liability if they kill or injure protestors while acting in self-defense and their actions “arose from another individual’s conduct in furtherance of a riot.”
If approved, those bills would put Michigan in the ranks of other states that passed laws to punish protests after Americans took to the streets following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020.
But as the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law notes, neither the bill nor existing Michigan law defines what constitutes “conduct in furtherance of a riot,” which it calls “a vague phrase” that could include ordinary, nonviolent protest activities, including handing out water or chanting.
The center added that if enacted, it believes the bill “could encourage violence by drivers and others against people who are participating in or supporting a protest.”
Runestad’s bill was assigned to the Senate’s Civil Rights, Judiciary and Public Safety, where it remains.
Regardless, Stancliff said the document concerned her because it circulated shortly before planned No Kings protests across the country, including in Manistee.
“It was a little scary,” she said. “People are pretty nutty right now.”
Despite the confusion of the night, Stancliff emphasized her motivation for speaking about the experience.
“I’m an aging hippie and a liberal,” Stancliff said. “I am, like most other people like me, absolutely outraged, horrified, and terrified right now at what is going on in Washington, D.C., and the world.”