Councilman Antonio Williams holds closed-door meeting
By Rochelle Moore
Published in News on September 13, 2016 9:57 AM
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Goldsboro City Councilman Antonio Williams
Goldsboro City Councilman Antonio Williams held a closed-door meeting in City Hall Monday after posting a Facebook video claiming he's being unfairly treated following recent charges of failure to appear in court.
Williams said in a Sunday Facebook video that news reports of the charges are "propaganda."
"There's been a lot of things happening in the city," Williams said in the video. "I've been going beyond what our past predecessors have been doing and because of that, there's been backlash.
"It's a crime that we have individuals who've been here forever and they haven't made a difference. Now, they're trying to quiet me up."
Williams explains some of the details of his April 1 traffic stop that led to charges of driving while license revoked and failure to burn headlamps. He was set to appear in court on June 3.
Williams told the News-Argus that he skipped the court date because he spoke with Wayne County Sheriff Larry Pierce and believed the issue was cleared up.
Pierce refutes the notion that he said anything to indicate Williams' charges would have been cleared after speaking with him.
"I at no time said anything that would indicate he would not need to handle his charges in the courtroom," Pierce said.
On Sept. 6, a warrant for Williams arrest was served after officers learned that Williams was at the county magistrate's office. He was released after signing a written promise to appear in court on Friday.
CLOSED-DOOR MEETING
On Monday, nearly 40 people sat inside the council chambers at City Hall, listening to Williams address concerns about the city and his charges.
A Goldsboro News-Argus reporter and photographer were told by Williams that the event was not open to the media. A woman then walked across the room and closed the door.
Shycole Simpson-Carter, the city's community relations director, was at City Hall but did not attend the meeting. She was the city staff person assigned to open and lock the doors at City Hall.
City Manager Scott Stevens said Williams did not violate the state Open Meetings Law because a quorum of the city council was not present.
"I don't think he's doing anything illegal," Stevens said. "We have council members that meet one-on-one or two-on-one. I don't think he's doing anything wrong."
In Williams' video, he talks about community issues, including poverty, bias and racism. Williams said that recent news reports of his charges are a "crime."
"For a traffic infraction?" Williams said. "There should not be this much publicity in the newspaper. Now, that's a crime.
"Don't believe everything you read in the paper -- propaganda, propaganda."
TRAFFIC STOP
On April 1, at 12:01 a.m., Williams was stopped by a Wayne County sheriff's deputy after pulling out of the Handy Mart on U.S. 70 and driving without his headlights on, according to the citation report.
The officer reported that Williams made a U-turn and headed east on U.S. 70, driving 10 miles below the speed limit.
The officer initiated a traffic stop for suspicion of DWI, according to the report. A N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles check revealed that Williams' license was suspended.
In the report, the officer wrote that the "defendant was extremely argumentative and threatened" a lawsuit.
The order for Williams arrest was served due to his failure to appear in court for the misdemeanor charges.