FAYETTEVILLE -- Police took a man away in handcuffs after he refused to wear a mask during the council's meeting Tuesday.
Police Chief Mike Reynolds told the man he would be arrested in connection with criminal trespassing after refusing to leave once Mayor Lioneld Jordan asked. The man, wearing scrubs, said the city doesn't really have a mask mandate because the city prosecutor won't enforce it.
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Police identified the man as James William Smith, 40, of Prairie Grove. Chief Reynolds said Smith also received a citation for violating the city's mask ordinance.
City Hall, and other public buildings in the city, has a mask mandate in place. About 6 p.m., City Clerk Kara Paxton said she would leave out of concern for her young children at home.
Most of the council members were tuned into the meeting via Zoom. Council Member Sloan Scroggin then asked if there were people in the chamber without a mask, and Council Member Matthew Petty asked why the mandate was not being enforced.
Jordan then asked a group sitting in the front row to leave. Smith refused. About a handful of people sitting with him and a few others in the room left willingly.
The council had an item on Tuesday's agenda that would require city employees to get a weekly covid test or provide a voluntary vaccine card to opt out.