Police charged a Little Rock man Thursday with felony terroristic threatening and two felony counts of making a terrorist threat in a case involving City Manager Bruce Moore.
An arrest report for Luke Skrable, 57, asks for an order of protection for Moore and his son.
Moore declined to comment on the situation Thursday, citing the ongoing investigation. Police spokesman Lt. Sidney Allen didn't return an email or phone messages requesting the police incident report related to Skrable's arrest.
The arrest report doesn't say why Skrable was charged, but an email he sent to Moore late Tuesday night was a contributing factor, city spokesman Luis Gonzalez said.
The email, which had "More gas for the fire......" in the subject line, was released to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on Thursday night by Moore. Skrable sent the email at 10:36 p.m. Tuesday, hours after being escorted out of the city Board of Directors meeting by police.
In the email, Skrable wrote:
"You have tried that childish staring me down routine twice now this month, get a clue slick, your days are numbered. If you got your manie-panties in a bunch, step off like a man or get a clue.
"When ever you feel like you want to wear big boy pants, lift the ban you put me under in December of 2007 and show me something besides how lightweight you are. We are in the same weight class, are you scared, is that it?
"I have been waiting for you to do your business or get off the pot and down the road, you have wore out your welcome and brand of rip-off in my town, you are on notice."
It wasn't the first pointed email Skrable has sent. He is well known at City Hall for his outspokenness at city board meetings and his frequent emails expressing discontent with city officials, often calling them names. His verbal attacks on city government often include Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola, the city Board of Directors and the Public Works Department as his targets.
He has sent lengthy emails almost weekly to the mayor and city board -- copying Moore, several members of the media and others -- in which he refers to the "Stodola Good Ol' Boy Society" and makes frequent mention of his First Amendment rights being denied.
Skrable is due in Little Rock District Court today at 8:30 a.m. He was booked into the Pulaski County jail about 4:15 p.m. Thursday and had bail set at $42,500, according to the arrest report.
Skrable showed up at Tuesday's city board meeting to complain about conditions in southwest Little Rock. When Stodola wouldn't allow Skrable to speak during time allotted for citizen communication, Skrable became irate, pounding the podium.
Stodola asked Little Rock police to escort Skrable out of the room, at which point Skrable continued yelling at the mayor.
Skrable has utilized citizen communication time since at least 2006, and Tuesday wasn't the first time he has been removed.
On Wednesday, he sent an email requesting that City Attorney Tom Carpenter provide him with the law that allows the mayor to deny him a chance to speak at board meetings and a copy of "the law I broke that allows police office[r]s to man handle me out of a public meeting without being charged and arrested for a crime."
The city's Board Orientation Manual states that citizens can be barred from testimony at a meeting or removed from the board chambers if they do not follow proper conduct after a warning.
"As any rope around a mans neck come tight at some point, I have waited and the God's are smiling on me this time. Mayor Stodola cross a bad legal line with his 5th instance of abusing my 1st Amendment Rights, I truly hope the elected tax officials and cowboy mayor have a false sense of security that you will protect them on this a third time, I don't gamble but I would not bet the last nickel of [y]our last paycheck the mayor and BOD's will weasel out of this one," Skrable's Wednesday email to Carpenter said.
He closed the email by vowing to attend next week's board meeting to speak during citizen communication time.
Stodola said Thursday that Skrable's "disruptive and very verbally abusive" behavior at Tuesday's meeting was "even more exaggerated" than usual.
Stodola was in Washington, D.C., on Thursday for a convention and said he has not had contact with Skrable since Tuesday, other than being copied on the email blast Wednesday.
The arrest report doesn't detail what the second two charges are related to. Second-degree terroristic threatening is a Class D felony and the two counts of making a terrorist threat are Class A felonies.
Metro on 01/23/2015