A GOP Lawmaker Was Arrested After Chasing a Stripper With a Gun in the Middle of the Night

Ben Mathis-Lilley
·2 min read
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On Wednesday, no less credible a source than Slate.com announced that Lansing, Michigan, is the most relevant bellwether population center in the country. Where goeth Lansing, so goeth the nation, we say. (Crucial Waukesha County can f— off!)

Hours after the publication of the piece, as if to emphasize that Lansing is “where it all happens,” a 62-year-old Michigan state representative named Neil Friske delivered what may go down as the signature political arrest of the year, getting collared at 2:45 a.m. Thursday by Lansing PD because, according to an initial report by the MIRS news service, he had “chased an adult dancer after a disagreement” and “had a gun in his possession at the time.” Authorities say the county prosecutor’s office is reviewing his case and that he may be arraigned on Friday or Saturday.

According to a police spokesperson quoted in the Detroit Free Press, officers were dispatched to an area near Friske’s residence in the state capital—he represents a district in northern Michigan—to “respond to reports of a male with a gun.” Per the Freep, Friske is being held in police lockup, which did not stop his reelection campaign from releasing a doozy of a statement:

Admit nothing, deny everything, make counteraccusations! Concurrently to his arrest, somehow, Friske also posted this tweet, which includes a fairly complicated allegorical graphic explaining his opposition to a bill pending in the Legislature which would outlaw A.I.-generated pornography:

The Greeks are carrying spears and they look like potatoes from a children’s book, but the RINOs are wearing contemporary men’s suits. There’s some stuff that could have been cleaned up there, but in Friske’s defense, he was busy (i.e., in jail) at the time.

Friske is a member of the state-level Republican “Freedom Caucus,” a right-wing faction, and has co-sponsored a bill that would require state schools to provide instruction on the “Christian foundations” of U.S. history.

MIRS’s report said the dancer involved in the incident works for the Lansing location of the Déjà Vu gentlemen’s club chain, which was founded by a native of a nearby small town who began his business career by inventing the pornographic drive-in theater. Like we said, Lansing is where it all happens.