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Warren City Councilman Eddie Kabacinski was arrested at a weekend rally for Republican former President Donald Trump in Utica, Michigan. Police charged him for illegally selling "Make America Great Again" (MAGA) merchandise.
The slogan, MAGA, was Trump's 2016 election slogan. It has since been reprinted on countless items and apparel. Kabacinski allegedly sold the merchandise near noon on Saturday local time. Police said he sold them on a street corner where people often congregate to display their support of Trump.
Police arrested Kabacinski for operating without a peddlers permit. Many cities require licenses for vendors in order to regulate trade, oversee sales on public property and tax sellers on their profits.
Kabacinski was subsequently booked and released. He will appear in court at a later time, Utica Police Sargeant Matthew Kaluzny said in a press release.
Kabacinski's arrest and past arrests renewed calls for him to step down from the Warren City Council. However, Patrick Green, president of the Warren City Council, told The Oakland Press that the council doesn't have the power to censure or remove him.
"Mr. Kabacinski's interactions with law enforcement are very troubling and not a reflection of the good people of the city of Warren," Green said, adding, "I myself want to admonish him in the strongest terms possible."
Next month, Kabacinski will appear in court for a hearing related to his October 14, 2020 arrest. At the time, he allegedly chased down and handcuffed a woman who had placed three "Black Lives Matter" (BLM) stickers on yard signs for Trump's re-election campaign.
Police, in that case, charged Kabacinski with assault and battery as well as impersonating a police officer. If convicted for those charges, he could face up to 93 days in prison.
In September 2020, he was recorded on video claiming to be a police officer while dressed in military fatigues. When asked to show his badge, he revealed a military police ID. Kabacinski is a former military vet who has said that he is a former military police officer. He is not a police officer in the state of Michigan.
That same month, Kabacinski counterprotested against a BLM demonstration supporting a Black family whose house had been vandalized after they displayed a BLM sign.
Kabacinski is a first-term city council member. He is also an Army veteran who served during the 1991 and 2006 U.S. invasions of Iraq. He has criticized BLM protests as well as COVID-19 lockdowns, mask mandates and social distancing requirements, the Oakland Press reported.
Kabacinski has been the target of two separate recall efforts in 2021. Neither effort achieved the number of valid signatures needed to hold a recall election against him.
Newsweek contacted the Utica Police Department for comment.
