A Jefferson County election commissioner drew a handgun Thursday night after a ruckus at public meeting, according to a police report.
After the meeting at the county elections office was adjourned early, commissioner Stuart Soffer drew his gun to his side, but did not point it at anyone, according to a Pine Bluff Police Department report. Soffer told officers he feared he could not defend himself from a hostile former commissioner, the report added.
Accounts of the incident included in the police report came from eight different witnesses, who each described a similar series of events while differing on who escalated the altercation.
According to the various witness accounts, Michael McCray was publicly addressing the board when tensions flared and commissioners Michael Adam and Soffer cut him off and adjourned the meeting.
Soffer held the door open and told people to leave when Theodis Davis, a local politician, exchanged words with Soffer, the report states.
Soffer told police Davis "came at him in an aggressive manner," the report said.
Soffer said he pulled out the .22-caliber handgun, which he had earlier gotten from his car, and held it in the palm of his hand next to his leg.
Davis said Adams and Soffer are Republicans, and another member of the board, Cynthia Sims, is a Democrat. Davis is also a Democrat, and said he served on the board from 2013 to 2015, including two years as chairman.
Davis said he plans to pursue both legal and criminal action against Soffer, mentioning that he might file a restraining order.
"To threaten bodily harm is distressing to me, so I don't know where this is going," he said.
Police wrote that Soffer showed them a concealed carry permit, and stated that he had asked the sheriff's office to provide security, but it had not done so.
Soffer did not respond to a request for comment Friday. The report did not include any arrests or citations.
Read Saturday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.