Name: Casselberry residents demand Commissioner Busch resign after comments supporting Capitol rioters
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Casselberry residents demand Commissioner Busch resign after comments supporting Capitol rioters

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AdvertisementBy Orlando SentinelJan 14, 2021 at 4:53 pmHundreds of people have signed a petition demanding that Casselberry Commissioner Mark Busch resign after he is seen on video at a local Trump rally a day before last week’s riot at the U.S. Capitol making comments that seem to support the violent uprising that left five people dead.“We cannot allow our elected officials to speak violent rhetoric and get away with it,” said Emily Orey, a Casselberry resident, who is part of the petition drive to oust Busch. “This is completely inappropriate for a public official, who is supposed to be non-partisan. And we expect the city to hold him responsible.”AdvertisementThe petition had collected nearly 900 signatures as of Thursday morning, Orey said. She and dozens of other Casselberry residents plan to turn out at the Jan. 25 commission meeting to demand city leaders force Busch to resign, censure him or launch an investigation into his actions.But Mayor David Henson said neither he nor any other commissioner has the power under state law to remove Busch, who also serves as the city’s vice mayor.Advertisement“This is not going to go away,” Henson said. “I feel very confident that there will be something brought up at the meeting. But it depends on what the commission wants to do. It could be a resolution … But I don’t know what an investigation would come of it, to be honest with you.”In an email to the Sentinel Thursday, Busch said he was at the Jan. 5 rally in Casselberry as a resident and not as an elected official.“I was there as a private citizen on my own account to support the Constitution, voter integrity and the fundamental principles on which our country was founded,” Busch said in his email. “I am a Constitutional conservative and will continue to fight for freedom of speech, voter reform and the rule of law. I plead to all fair-minded people to work together diligently to heal the discord in our communities and our nation.”According to a video posted on the social media website Rumbler, a group of Trump supporters are seen holding flags and signs at the northwest corner of the busy intersection of U.S. Highway 17-92 and State Road 436 in Casselberry while waving to passing motorists. The group has gathered at that intersection nearly every Tuesday for the past several months.Seminole resident Jeff Sonksen, an artist whose murals appear on the Seminole Wekiva Trail, is with the group and seems to be recording the video on his cell phone.Busch walks up carrying a yellow “Don’t Tread on Me” flag, wearing a red hat with the words “Fake News” and a black T-shirt reading “Freedom is my favorite F-word.”Sonksen then greets him as the city commissioner for Casselberry, and says: “He ain’t scared…. If you don’t fight, you can’t win.”Busch answers: “Absolutely.”AdvertisementBusch and Sonksen then talk about Vice President Mike Pence certifying the Electoral College votes in Washington D.C. the next day on Jan. 6.“He’s going to have one to two million people sitting outside the Capitol. He better do the right thing,” Busch said. “And these people, they’re foaming at the mouth mad right now. They got the pitch forks. And they got the torches. And if they don’t do what they should be doing, watch out. All bets are off…..I think at this point, we just don’t care anymore.”The storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 by a large mob of Trump supporters was an attempt to disrupt the Electoral College vote count and overturn Joe Biden’s presidential win in last November’s election. Rioters — many who had gathered in Washington D.C. the day before — stormed through police barricades and then vandalized the building for hours.Busch can be heard on the tape criticizing the Republican Party and said a new “Patriot Party” should be formed.As it happensBe the first to know with email alerts on important breaking stories from the Orlando Sentinel newsroom. &gt; Last Monday, the commissioner briefly apologized for his comments after a group of residents turned out to Casselberry’s city meeting to ask Busch to resign.“I do love my city, Casselberry” Busch said at the Jan. 11 meeting. “I always, always and have always condemned violence. What happened at the Capitol was a tragedy to our country…. And emotions were high on both sides. And for that I do apologize to the city of Casselberry for all the residents.”Advertisement“Vice Mayor Busch has taken to the streets with far-right extremists to incite further harm and division to our country and our beautiful city,” according to the petition, which also called Busch “dangerous” and his comments “in poor taste.”“We cannot allow our elected officials to speak violent rhetoric and get away with it,” the petition also states.Busch, 47, was first elected in 2018. He has said he plans to run for the Congress in 2022, when his term on the Casselberry commission ends.“It is clear from the Vice Mayor’s seditious words that he is anti-American, and he should resign or be removed,” Casselberry resident Jessica Bickerstaff wrote in the petition. “He does not represent us nor should he be allowed to hold a government position.”mcomas@orlandosentinel.com Advertisement

AdvertisementBy Orlando SentinelJan 14, 2021 at 4:53 pmHundreds of people have signed a petition demanding that Casselberry Commissioner Mark Busch resign after he is seen on video at a local Trump rally a day before last week’s riot at the U.S. Capitol making comments that seem to support the violent uprising that left five people dead.“We cannot allow our elected officials to speak violent rhetoric and get away with it,” said Emily Orey, a Casselberry resident, who is part of the petition drive to oust Busch. “This is completely inappropriate for a public official, who is supposed to be...

Casselberry residents demand Commissioner Busch resign after comments supporting Capitol rioters

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