A Montana man pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor violation on Monday for a dispute with a neighbor over an anti-Trump flag.
Michael Challans, 43, was issued a citation for disorderly conduct stemming from a March 1 incident in which home security camera footage captured an altercation between himself and Tim Mielke, a resident that lives near him, according to the Independent Record.
Challans called Mielke, who is gay, a “queer” and demanded he remove his flag that read, “Trump Lost: LOL.” The 43-year-old said it should be pulled down because he was in a pro-Trump neighborhood.
Mielke insisted at the time that he hoisted the flag because Trump supporters throughout the area did not take down their Trump gear after the former president’s 2020 election loss, and Challans referred to his argument as what “f— say,” using a gay slur. Mielke filed a complaint with local police, and a citation was issued a week later.
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Challans was ordered to pay a fine of $100 in addition to court costs totaling $85 before he was mandated to head to a police station for fingerprinting and a mugshot. Challans apologized to his neighbor in the courtroom during the verdict.
“I used the wrong words,” he said. “I feel horrible for what I said to him. Nobody deserves that.”
“He deserved an apology,” he continued. “If I had known he was gay, I wouldn’t have used the words I did.”
Mielke accepted his neighbor’s remorse.
“It seems the issue is resolved, and that is fantastic,” he said.
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Challans claimed he had received death threats following the incident.
“What is the difference of what I did to them and them burning my house down to make me pay in some kind of way?” he said prior to his court hearing. “It’s an outrageous double standard. Whatever happened to sticks and stones? The world is so sensitive. Words can’t hurt you.”
