Lansing City Councilwoman Washington charges misogyny against Punks with Lunch anarchist

Lansing City Councilwoman Jody Washington says she’s the victim of misogynistic attacks as she endures a dogfight of a campaign for a third term representing the First Ward.

The political feud stems from her ongoing difficulties with Punks with Lunch, a nonviolent anarchist group that feeds the homeless, and its spokesman, Martin Mashon. Washington secured a personal protection order against Mashon from the Ingham County Circuit Court in August after he posted negative comments about her on Facebook, which included calling her a “bitch.”

Washington has now referenced their encounter in a campaign flier: “You know how it goes: When a man is forceful, he’s referred to as ‘strong’ and ‘decisive.’ When a woman speaks her mind, she’s referred to as the ‘B-word’ or worse.”

In fighting to keep her seat, Washington appears to be using Mashon and Punks with Lunch to strengthen both her right and left flanks.

She can attack the fringe group to shore up her moderate credentials by associating Punks with Lunch with the alt-left and Antifa, which have been at the center of street violence in left-wing cities like Portland, Oregon.

And with the charges of misogyny, she can play to liberal identity politics to appeal to progressives.

When reached for comment, Washington referred to City Pulse editor and publisher Berl Schwartz and said: “Berl will twist whatever I say, so I’m not going to engage further. I will let you men decide what is and isn’t sexist.”

[City Pulse endorsed her opponent, Brandon Betz, in an editorial last week.]

In comments to her fanbase on Facebook, Washington was more digressive:

“I have never gone negative. I have held my head high, and I stand on my record. I have found no need to try to invalidate the work of others in an attempt to make me look good.

“I make no apologies for not fitting the box that some folks think little ladies should be in. I am a grown, strong woman and I will continue to fight like a grown woman! If that means being passionate now and again, so be it. I can’t believe people are still alright with misogynistic attitudes.

“I have never been a fan of victim shaming, but …. I will never stand back and be another victim regardless of who tries to shame me.”

Mashon told City Pulse that Washington is zeroing in on one stray insult he made in a Facebook post to distract from the poor job she’s done addressing the needs of her constituents. She got the personal protection order for “threats on her life” that were really “threats on her reelection.”

The Lansing State Journal first reported on the personal protection order earlier this month. It cited the lines from Mashon that Washington used as evidence of the need for a special order protecting her from a constituent:

“Go ahead and defend your friend, she’s going to be getting hers. Tell that Jody bitch she’s got a lot that’s going to be thrown at her plate after the primary. She wants to start a war with a bunch of punks, she’ll get a war that’s very public.”

Mashon said he has some regret using the term “bitch,” or female dog, when the gender-neutral “asshole” might do, but said most of the women he knows also call Washington a “bitch.”

“She called me ‘unstable’ and ‘dangerous,’” Mashon added. “I think many in this community would acknowledge that I’m a compassionate activist just trying to do the right things — feeding the homeless, being a voice of the unheard, standing up when we wish our elected rep would.”

He said she similarly goes door-to-door denigrating Betz as a “socialist,” eliciting a barbed response from Betz:

“I’m willing to engage with Jody on any policy front. Red-baiting has been used for over 40 years to discourage real progressive change,” said Betz, who has been endorsed by the local Democratic Socialists of America. Betz did not comment on her dispute with Mashon.

“I’m running a strong policy-based campaign and refuse to engage with her attacks that have nothing to do with the policies I’ve put forward that help actual people who live in my ward over big developers and her wealthy donors.”

Mashon said the trouble with Washington began after the city of Lansing targeted his group and harassed him for keeping milk crates on his back porch, which he planned to use for gardening — something he said city officials dubiously told him was illegal, without ever coming by such an ordinance.

He sought Washington’s assistance clearing it up, but city officials dug in, throwing up vague ordinances to find him out of compliance, he said. The city then targeted Punks for Lunch for feeding needy people in the park without a permit, he added.

He said Washington mocked his group in a speech at the Allen Neighborhood Center: “We’re not going to solve homelessness by throwing peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at homeless people.” Soon after that, he claimed, county health inspectors began targeting Plymouth Congregational Church, which sponsors their charity for the homeless.

Mashon linked the inspections — which came just a month after the county had certified the church kitchen — with Washington and her son-in-law, Ingham County Commissioner Thomas Morgan.

Morgan responded to this conspiracy theory with one word: “Jesus,” and then followed: “I’m not getting involved with that dude. He’s bad news. He has this whole anti-government conspiracy theory cooked up in his head and he won’t listen to reason.”

“He also accused the mayor of sending (a) hitman out to him,” Morgan added. “I’m telling you, you’re not dealing with a reliable source here. I understand it fits Berl’s need to smack Jody around, but he’s not the one.”