By The Related Press
Eric Mays, a Flint, Michigan, metropolis council member recognized for activism in the course of the metropolis’s water disaster and for disruptive habits at public conferences, has died.
Metropolis officers made the announcement late Feb. 24, with out itemizing a reason for loss of life. Mays was 65.
“It is a large loss for our group and a shock to all family and friends,” Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley stated in a press release. “As our group grieves throughout this tough time, on behalf of Councilman Mays’ household, we ask that group members respect their privateness and permit them time and house to mourn. We proceed to raise the household in prayer.”
Mays, who was first elected in 2013, was among the many first elected officers to boost questions on Flint’s water high quality.
The disaster started 10 years in the past when the town started taking water from the Flint River with out treating it correctly, leading to lead contamination. Mays hosted a public assembly in 2015 the place individuals got a platform to debate the town’s water high quality. A whole lot attended, with many complaining about pores and skin issues associated to the water.
However Mays was additionally usually at odds along with his colleagues and have become recognized for outbursts that attracted a strong social media following.
He was faraway from council conferences a number of instances over time, together with in 2015 when police escorted him out of a gathering after he refused to cease talking. In 2020, he was stripped of a management position after he in contrast the council’s chief to Adolf Hitler throughout a public assembly and gave her a Nazi salute.
Nonetheless, Mays was fashionable in his north facet ward and gained re-election in 2021. He made an unsuccessful bid for Flint mayor in 2022.
Within the metropolis’s public assertion, officers cited Mays for “daring and brave service” and stated the flag at Metropolis Corridor can be lowered to half-staff on Feb. 26 in his honor.
This text was initially revealed by the Related Press.
