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FLINT – Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton announced that a Genesee County jury has convicted a 44-year-old Flint man of resisting and obstructing police officers for his conduct at a 2025 Flint City Council meeting.
Joshua Thomas Boggess was found guilty as charged of two counts of Resisting and Obstructing a Police Officer, stemming from the June 18, 2025, meeting at Flint City Hall. He was also convicted of Disturbing the Peace.
Two officers were on duty at the meeting.
According to testimony presented at trial and police reports, Boggess attended the June 18, 2025 meeting of the Flint City Council. During the public comment period, after the presiding officer called the final speaker to the podium, Boggess spoke out from the gallery. The presiding officer issued him a first warning under the council’s rules. Under those rules, a second infraction results in removal.
Evidence showed that Boggess continued and was directed to leave, and that he exited the chamber while shouting profane and abusive language. He continued in the hallway outside the chamber, near the elevators, while the remaining public speaker was attempting to be heard. The presiding officer paused the speaker’s time, and members of the audience turned toward the disturbance, with some leaving the chamber.
Testimony established that Flint police officers responded to the hallway and repeatedly directed Boggess to board the elevator and leave the building, which was otherwise closed at that hour. The elevator doors opened twice while he remained in the hallway shouting.
Officers then directed him to turn around and place his hands behind his back.
Evidence showed that he did not comply, resisting officers as they attempted to place him in handcuffs and continuing to physically resist after he was taken into the elevator.
Two videos of the incident were admitted into evidence at trial, including video of the meeting itself with audio of the hallway confrontation.
The jury deliberated approximately an hour and a half before returning guilty verdicts on all counts.
“Every resident of this county has the right to be heard at a public meeting, and this office will always stand behind that right,” stated Leyton. “What makes this case a sad one is how avoidable it was — a disagreement about public comment time that could have ended in a conversation, instead ended with officers being resisted and a man in handcuffs.
Leyton continued: “The jury drew the line exactly where the law draws it: between speaking your mind and refusing the lawful orders of officers doing their jobs.”
Leyton also praised the efforts of Assistant Prosecutor Daniel Van Norman, who led the prosecution at trial, along with the paralegals, secretaries, legal assistants and law enforcement officers who assisted in the successful prosecution of the case.
Boggess is scheduled to be sentenced on September 14. He faces up to two years in prison.
