Activist Mike Lynn shares his perspective on incident with Councilman Betz

LANSING, Mich. (WILX) - As Lansing City Council calls on one of its members to resign over some nasty text messages, the man who received them explains how it all got started.

Lansing activist Michael Lynn says council member Brandon Betz went back on his word.

Mike Lynn and Brandon Betz thought they were on the same page when it came to Mayor Andy Schor.

Lynn and Lansing’s Black Lives Matter called for the mayor to resign last summer.

“Brandon pulled an about-face. That’s really what happened. Brandon put out an open letter demanding the mayor resign. He’s been very vocal about all of this stuff with Andy Schor, all of the things that the people have been complaining about he was very vocal about these things,” said Lynn.

Lynn says that was just the beginning of the disagreements. It escalated when Betz got the COVID-19 vaccine.

“There’s a lot of people in that constituency who have immunocompromised issues who are elderly. There’s a lot of people who could’ve taken that shot who could’ve used that and I feel like as a city councilperson you should know your constituents, you should know who needs that and people probably have been complaining to him about not being able to get on the registry list,” he said.

In a series of text messages, Councilman Betz used swear words and called activist Mike Lynn names.

News 10 reached out to Councilmember Betz for comment. He has not provided a response.

Betz replied via social media saying he was excused from last night’s council meeting and is now vacationing in Alaska. He plans to address the issue when he returns.

Meanwhile, Lynn’s lawyer is encouraging Betz to choose his words wisely.

“We did send a cease and desist letter to Brandon earlier this afternoon. We also demanded that he retract his defamatory statements about Mike. Mike has never threatened him or his family and we are strongly encouraging him to stop presenting these falsehoods as truths because at this point he’s engaging in defamation,” said Lynn’s attorney.

At Monday’s meeting, the Lansing City Council censured Betz -- and called for him to resign.

WILX will keep you updated on this story.