Michigan Rep. Neil Friske says he was framed after his arrest
Lansing – Michigan state Rep. Neil Friske, who was arrested last week and remains under investigation, said on a radio show Monday that he has done nothing wrong and will not give up his seat in the Michigan House of Representatives.
Friske, a Republican from Charlevoix, was arrested near his Lansing home early Thursday morning after police responded to “a report of a man with a weapon and possible gunshots,” according to Lansing police.
He was released from jail Friday after Ingham County Prosecutor John Dewane’s office asked Lansing police to further investigate allegations of sexual assault, assault and a weapons offense.
While the investigation is ongoing, Friske appeared on the conservative radio show “Your Defending Fathers” in northern Michigan on Monday morning.
“I can’t really comment on the specifics,” Friske said during the interview. “But … just the way the events unfolded made it very clear to me that something was wrong and that something was being framed and something was being tried to be framed.
“And that’s how these people work, you know? And it’s just so frustrating. I just find it unbelievable how desperate people are that they’ll go to that length to try to destroy someone.”
It was not clear which people Friske accused of trying to frame him or what evidence he had to back up the allegations. Friske also provided little information during the interview about the events that led to police arresting him after they were dispatched around 2:45 a.m. Thursday.
On Monday’s radio show, Friske said he still had “a long way to go” but was “very optimistic.”
Randy Bishop, host of “Your Defending Fathers,” said he has received 250 to 400 text messages in support of Friske, who is running in the primary in August.
“People see through it immediately,” Friske said. “It’s a centuries-old game that’s not even new.”
The first-term congressman also said he plans to travel to Lansing on Monday evening to attend the week’s session, which begins Tuesday.
“My campaign is in full swing. I’m not going to stop my campaign,” Friske said Monday. “I know there are skeptics out there telling me to resign, to stop (my campaign). I’m not going to do that. I feel like that’s not what God wants me to do. That’s not the message I’m getting from my supporters.”
“And I haven’t done anything wrong, so why on earth would I do this?”
On Thursday, Democratic state Rep. Phil Skaggs of East Grand Rapids called for Friske to resign in light of the events.
“I urge Representative Friske to listen to his conscience and do the right thing,” Skaggs wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday. “If these allegations are true, Friske should immediately resign from the Michigan House of Representatives.”
Dewane, the Ingham County prosecutor, last week asked Lansing police to further investigate the allegations against Friske before he could make a decision on whether to file charges. On Monday, Dewane said he had no timetable for the investigation to be completed.
A Lansing police spokeswoman said Monday there were no new findings in the department’s investigation.
Friske, the owner of Friske & Sons Property Management, is 62 years old. He was first elected to the Michigan House of Representatives in November 2022. His district includes Charlevoix and Emmet counties, as well as parts of Cheboygan, Chippewa and Mackinac counties.
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