REPENT IN CRYSTAL LAKE: Township supervisor views property destruction as political attack

May 24—CRYSTAL LAKE — A township official embroiled in a federal lawsuit was the victim of malicious destruction of property after someone threw rocks containing a religious message through her house entry doors, shattering the glass.

Supervisor Amy Ferris said she views the incident as a political attack, fears for her safety and plans to install security cameras at the house she shares with her husband, James Ferris.

"Rocks were propelled with such force that after going through Thermopane windows they traveled almost another 30 feet," Amy Ferris said. "One went through a chair on the far side of the room."

The incident happened more than an hour after midnight on May 18 when she and her husband were home, Ferris said. They were not injured.

A case report, which does not name a suspect, states a Benzie County Sheriff's deputy recovered four rocks from the home with the word "repent" written on them in black marker along with drawings of a cross.

"The location of the residence and the wording on the rocks leads me to believe this was a personal attack and potentially motivated by some moral/ethical conflict from the suspect," responding officer Dep. Brandon Ismiel said in his report.

"The house is tucked away in an uncommon neighborhood and someone would have to know who resides at the house to come out at 1:30 a.m. in the morning to throw rocks with possibly religious motivation," Ismiel said.

Ferris on Tuesday acknowledged some of her actions as supervisor have been controversial; she also previously told law enforcement that she has numerous enemies and people unhappy with her, because of her board position.

"It's a lot to process, and we're still processing it, but I do believe this was an intimidation," Ferris, who is seeking re-election, said of the rock-throwing.

In Michigan and nationally, state and local officeholders are receiving threats, harassment and insults at an increasing rate.

A 2024 report by the Brennan Center, in which 1,700 officials from all 50 states were surveyed, showed 89 percent of state legislators and 52 percent of local officeholders said they'd experienced threats, attacks, harassment or stalking in the past three years.

A 2022 Michigan Public Policy Survey brief found 47 percent of local government officials, whether elected or appointed, said they'd personally experienced online or in-person harassment related to their job.

"I tried to tell people not to do fireworks illegally and I got attacked for that," Ferris said.

Court records show in July 2021, Ferris was at home when she heard fireworks ignited on a day and location where they were not permitted, and she got in her car and drove to a local park.

Ferris said a group was lighting off fireworks at Bellows Park, within Crystal Lake Township's borders, on the west side of Crystal Lake.

The incident sparked a sheriff's office investigation, the arrest, prosecution and acquittal of Johnny Ray McCall — who said he was just there to pick up his daughter from a birthday party — and McCall's resulting civil lawsuit in federal court.

McCall said in court filings that Ferris' actions and his arrest and prosecution violated his civil rights.

Township meeting minutes show there's been disagreement between elected officials over how the incident, and other ordinance enforcement actions, should have been handled — and how best to defend the township and Ferris, against the claims in McCall's lawsuit.

Ferris said she's also heard complaints from residents over her administration of the township's cemetery and enforcement of cemetery rules.

An unnamed resident, for example, in March accused Ferris of burying a relative in the wrong grave, although Ferris said if a mistake had been made it happened previous to her tenure as cemetery administrator.

"That was 13 years ago just before I was coming on board," Ferris said Tuesday. "He's in the right place now."

Ferris said she did not know who threw the rocks.

She also said she did not have any information to show that the rock-throwing had any relationship with the lawsuit or the cemetery complaint and, while the incident is alarming, she has not withdrawn her candidacy for re-election.

"If I left, there's nobody watching the chicken house," Ferris said.

The township has grappled with a number of controversial issues in recent months, including tension between some board members, the March resignation of Treasurer Brooke Trentham Popp who accepted a position elsewhere, a request from Ferris for a pay raise to compensate her for the cemetery responsibilities, a zoning-related lawsuit and ongoing resident concerns about unaddressed blight.

"We live here and we don't understand why there's a Sony Trinitron sitting in the middle of my street," an unnamed resident said during the March 19 board meeting where blight was discussed. "You know, I'm confused, and yet we're supposed to pay our taxes."

"This is not going to inspire confidence in me, but I'm on the board and I don't understand why we don't do anything about it," Ferris said, adding this was an issue she ran for election on.

She was elected supervisor in 2012 after first serving as deputy supervisor and was re-elected in 2016 and 2020, and cited "vastly different" opinions on the board about property rights.

Ferris, who runs the board's monthly meetings, said she's been supportive of increased transparency at the township. She and other board members helped arrange for meetings to be recorded and videos uploaded to the township's new YouTube channel.

The videos are popular with residents, have received dozens of views and Ferris said she's been encouraged by increased resident interest in the activities of local government.

As for the McCall lawsuit, the parties in April agreed to mediation and to settlement discussions which are ongoing, court records show.