Man behind anti-police YouTube.com videos has history of harassing people on the Internet, records show

The man heard on videos under the “NatTurnersArmy” and “HATEWASTENAWSHERIFFS” YouTube.com accounts is 38-year-old Madison Tristan Mealing of Superior Township, Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Derrick Jackson confirmed Thursday.

Jackson said at least one Washtenaw County sheriff’s deputy visited Mealing’s home on Oct. 7, as Mealing claimed in a video.

“An officer did go out to his house,” Jackson said. “It wasn’t to make an arrest. It’s more just reaching out to him to find out what’s going on.”

The content in the videos and profiles associated with the two accounts appears to be protected under the First Amendment, Jackson said. Mealing declined a request for an interview with AnnArbor.com in May and did not return messages seeking comment Wednesday and Thursday.

He gained the attention of police officers in the region and across the country in May after he could be heard on a YouTube.com video praising the fatal shooting of a Detroit police officer. The video was titled, ”5 Detroit police officers shot this morning, 1 dies. Next killing spot? Washtenaw County P.D." In another video, Mealing praised the shooting of an off-duty county sheriff's deputy.

In May, the sheriff's department alerted other area agencies about the videos on the "NatTurnersArmy" account, which has been suspended. Ann Arbor police put out information about the videos as an officer safety caution.

AnnArbor.com recently reviewed dozens of pages of court documents, police records and numerous YouTube.com videos that reveal new details about Mealing.

He was born William Earl Standfield II and changed his name in 1998, saying he didn't like it and wanted to be named after a relative, records show. According to court and county records, Mealing formerly operated a vending company out of his home and has a medical marijuana card.

The videos show he is frustrated with being a felon, blaming the sheriff's department because he can't get a job.

Mealing is no stranger to law enforcement. His criminal record dates to 1996, with felony convictions for possessing child pornography, assault with a dangerous weapon and unlawful posting of a message. Mealing has a misdemeanor conviction for possessing a firearm in a car.

It's unclear why he's not listed on the Michigan Public Sex Offender Registry website. Michigan State Police Sgt. Chris Pascoe said Friday the process to register Mealing on the website is underway.

On Dec. 16, 1999, a judge granted five personal protection orders against Mealing after five of his former co-workers at an Ann Arbor debt collection agency alleged he advertised them for sex on the Internet, records show.

In one PPO application, a former co-worker wrote he asked Mealing to pick him up from work one day so they could talk about Mealing recently quitting.

“At that time, we were still friends,” the man wrote. “About five minutes into the ride home, he pulled out a semi-automatic weapon” and mentioned hurting the company's owner.

“I spent the whole time trying to talk some sense into him," the man wrote. "I thought I had, when we started getting a lot of obscene phone calls and e-mails directed to certain employees.”

In another PPO application, a former co-worker wrote Mealing set up profiles on the Internet, advertising the business as an "S&M Company."

She said her name and those of other employees were posted online, advertising them for sex and phone sex. She included some of the advertisements in the application as evidence for the court.

"This has also caused other men from the Internet to contact me at work, and to fax nude pictures of themselves," she wrote.

Eight people in the county have applied for PPOs against Mealing, records show, and six applications have been granted.

In 2004, a female family member obtained a PPO against Mealing after she alleged he ran her off the road, vandalized her car at work and came over to her house at 3 a.m. with a gang of people in a threatening manner.

According to Mealing's FBI Identification Record, his first arrest was in 1992 in Detroit, where he was picked up on a drug charge. The outcome of that case is unclear.

In 2000, Washtenaw County sheriff's deputies arrested Mealing after a brief standoff with a SWAT team at his home following a domestic dispute. Court records show he allegedly assaulted a female relative, leaving her with a black eye and threatened a deputy with a shotgun. Explosives-related materials were found in his home, records show.

Mealing pleaded no contest to assault with a dangerous weapon and was sentenced in 2001 to a year in jail followed by three years probation, records show. Several months into Mealing's probation term, his probation officer recommended Mealing "not be allowed to use the Internet" because he was allegedly harassing family members.

In 2004, Mealing pleaded no contest to possessing child sexually abusive material and was sentenced to three years probation, records show. Days before being arraigned on charges in that case, deputies say Mealing sparked a bomb scare during a traffic stop in Ypsilanti Township. A bomb-sniffing dog indicated explosive material was in a suspicious package in Mealing's car, and a bomb squad ultimately detonated the package, records show.

Mealing was convicted of violating probation in the case after he allegedly failed to complete a sex offender treatment program, swore at a sex offender therapist and used drugs, records show. He was sentenced to four months in jail.

In many videos, Mealing curses at police officers, wishes horrible things upon them and their families and uses racial slurs to describe individuals. But Mealing also can be heard on videos under the YouTube.com account, "DrBigBudz" presenting himself in a different light.

In those videos, he talks about his dog, mentions his wife and discusses methods to grow medical marijuana.

In one video, he celebrates that 100 people have subscribed to his YouTube.com channel. He says there's no place on his channel for racism and other hateful messages.

"In all, I’m just a peaceful person, you know what I’m saying?"