To the editor:

An Associated Press article in the DMG on April 5, 2021, stated the following: A Michigan sheriff is speaking up for an Upper Peninsula man who was charged in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Karl Dresch “stepped over the line” by going into the Capitol but he’s not a “dangerous man or dangerous to the community, … nearly all homes here have weapons as we have a tremendous number of hunters and fisherman,” said Houghton Sheriff Brian McLean in a letter filed in federal court in Washington.

“In spite of his history and flaws, he has managed to raise a family and conduct his own affairs and stay out of trouble until this recent incident,” said Paul LaBine, lawyer and mayor of Hancock in a court filing.

During a search of Dresch’s home after the Jan. 6 insurrection authorities discovered several firearms and ammunition in his house. Due to a prior conviction of alluding capture and driving at high speeds Dresch was ordered to not possess firearms or ammunition.

As for stepping over the line and not being a dangerous man or a danger to the community and staying out of trouble until the recent incident. The attempted violent overthrow of the United States is treasonous and was the most serious threat to our democracy since the Civil War.

If the AP article is inaccurate or misquoted Sheriff McLean and Mayor LaBine the AP should be held liable and print a strong retraction. However if the story is accurate it is an outrage that an elected law enforcement officer and a city mayor to offer extraneous statements about Dresch’s character and future behavior.