Residents dispute characterization of SAGE, allege demonstrations and question 'hate crime' claims at Livingston County meeting

At the Feb. 10, 2025 meeting of the Livingston County Board of Commissioners, two public commenters disputed media and public characterizations of a local advocacy group and of a screening that drew demonstrators across the street.

The matter drew comments from Stephanie Booth, a Howell resident, and Wes Nakagiri of Heartland during the meeting's public comment period. Booth said she belonged to SAGE (Stand Against Extremism) and pushed back on accusations that members paid demonstrators or staged events. "We don't pay actors to be Nazis. It exists in our county," Booth said. She also urged officials to provide evidence before making accusations about the group's founder: "If you're gonna make accusations about the founder, show the proof."

Booth told commissioners she had been interrupted and followed downstairs at a previous meeting by a group she described as armed, saying that experience informed security concerns at recent events. "When your MAGA idiots interrupted me... they also were packing heat, followed me down the elevator in a group of, I'd say, 10 armed people... they're trying to intimidate me," she said.

Wes Nakagiri subsequently disputed a separate claim that he had obtained tickets to a screening; he said he did not know tickets were required and left when told the event was sold out. Nakagiri also pointed commissioners to materials on his county-commissioner website he said document a "hate crime hoax" and to what he described as the Oakland County Sheriff's Office conclusion summarized on that site. "It's not my conclusion. It's the conclusion of the Oakland County Sheriff's Office," he said.

Neither speaker asked the board to take a specific formal action during their remarks. The board's public comment period closed after those statements and the meeting moved on to routine business.

The comments reflect a dispute among community members about the facts surrounding demonstrations and about the credibility of claims tied to a local group's founder. Speakers cited law enforcement inquiries and posted materials on a commissioner website; commissioners did not announce any follow-up investigation or formal action during the meeting.

No ordinance, resolution or formal motion arose from the public comment segment. The meeting continued with agenda approval and routine payables approvals later in the session.