A Maine woman has been arrested over a YouTube video where she filmed herself practicing shooting and naming city officials as her targets.
Laurie Allen, 56, was arrested in Belfast, Maine, on Friday after one of the people named in the video saw it and reported it to police.
She has been charged with terrorizing with a dangerous weapon, a class C felony.
In the video, Allen is seen firing a rifle from behind a truck in a field.
At the end, she gleefully runs towards the camera and names four Belfast city councillors, the city’s planner and the city manager and says: ‘Thanks for being my targets you a**holes.’
The footage remains online with a warning from YouTube that some viewers might find it upsetting.
Laurie Allen, 56, was arrested in Belfast, Maine, on Friday and was charged with terrorizing with a weapon after posting a video on YouTube last month
Allen is a vocal critic of the local government and has filed lawsuits against them in the past.
She says they are responsible for water damage on her property.
In other videos, she describes her dispute with them.
Belfast Police Chief Michael McFadden said the videos went over the line of merely criticizing local government and amounted to a threat.
‘We’re very cognizant that people have the right to disagree with their government and they have to have the opportunity to voice that disagreement.
In the video, Allen is seen behind a car where she shoots several shots at a target out of view
After firing her shots, Allen skipped towards the camera to celebrate her good aim
She turned her camera on the target and the nine shots she made from the car
Among the ‘targets’ were Neal Harkness (L) and Mary Mortier who both work for the city
Eric Sanders (L) and Mike Hurley (R) were also named in the video
‘It’s not such a fine line between appropriate disagreement and action, and illegal activity,’ he told The Press Herald.
Allen’s bond was set at $25,000.
After her arrest, the local politicians who she ‘targeted’ celebrated it on social media.
Michael Hurley, one of the councillors, said: ‘All part of service’ and shared a link to a local media story about it.
Since 2010, Allen, who is from New Jersey, has claimed that city officials’ decision to widen a stream near her property has led to water damage there.
Allen is a vocal protester and claims the city officials are to blame for water damage on her property. She is pictured in 2013, protesting outside City Hall
In other videos, she complains about her ongoing dispute with the city workers