Fed Up': Here's Why Some Massachusetts Residents Are Considering Secession

Residents of Humarock, Massachusetts are so upset with their governing authorities that they are considering seceding from the town, according to reports.

The resentment seemed to boil over around the 4th of July, when residents say the authorities were out-of-control in enforcing their ban on bonfires.

“That was a full military operation… I mean hummers up and down the beach, state police helicopters, horseback, bomb squad, [and] a command post up the center,” said Fred Hayden, who owns a summer home in Humarock.

CBS continues:

During Independence Day celebrations on July 3, State Police troopers were called in to help maintain order in the mostly senior-citizen community. A 70-year-old man says they used excessive force when arresting him, leaving his arms bruised and wrists bleeding.

“Every time they talk to you it’s in a threatening fashion,” long-time resident Emory Langlolies said during Sunday’s meeting.

Langlolies described his experience with law enforcement on the 3rd [of July] as overkill. He claims he was playing patriotic music when town officials marched onto his private property and unplugged his stereo. Langlolies says an officer then crushed the plug to keep him from starting the music again.

“They told my wife, ‘we’re going to come back to clean this mess up. We’re going to charge you $300 an hour and we’re going to take our time doing it,’” Langlolies recounted.

At a meeting with roughly 100 people, one resident said the town is seeing a "slow deterioration" of its constitutional rights.

WBZ-TV has more information, and video of the meeting:

And it isn't just the police force that residents seem to have a problem with.

Another resident said that, despite the fact that they pay their taxes and fines, “The sidewalks haven’t been fixed. There’s potholes in the roads. They’re not even trimming the bushes back from the sidewalk so you have to walk out into the street.”

Another analogized their taxes to donations, saying they may as well be a "donor community" for all their taxes are worth.

CBS continues:

Typical of the Bay State’s revolutionary spirit, Humarock taxpayers are asking for more representation at the Town Council. When a group attended a meeting of the Town’s Selectmen on July 10, they were not permitted to speak. Now they plan to write letters to town officials, as well as complaints to the State Police, the Attorney General, and Governor Deval Patrick.

"What are our rights?" one resident asked.  "I mean we pay $9,000 in taxes, [and] what are we getting for it?"