A public hearing for suspended Gliberton, Pa. police Chief Mark Kessler, whose YouTube gun demonstration videos drew national attention, was cut short Thursday night when a man dropped a semi-automatic pistol on the floor, the Republican Herald reported.
An unidentified man dropped the pistol, which the Republican Herald described as possibly a .45 semi-automatic, about 90 minutes into the hearing. The firearm did not discharge and no one was injured.
Attorneys ordered the man to leave before expressing concern for spectators’ safety and postponing the hearing entirely, according to the newspaper. The attorneys had been taking testimony on borough official’s charges that Kessler had neglected his duties and conducted himself inappropriately while off-duty, which would help determine whether Kessler would remain in his post.
The borough council had voted in September to continue to suspend Kessler pending termination. Previously, the council had suspended him for using borough-owned guns in a series of YouTube videos in which he fires machine guns and rails against Democratic political figures he calls “libtards.”
