Kirby Delauter, a Frederick county, Maryland, county council member has threatened to sue his local newspaper, the Frederick News-Post, for “unauthorized” use of his name and referencing him in an article about a council meeting. Now, the councilman who didn’t want his name in the newspaper is making headlines across the country.

A Facebook post from Delauter on Saturday warned the reporter who had written the story, Bethany Rodgers, that she would be “paying for an attorney” if she used his name again without his permission. It read, in part, “I did not return her call and did not authorize any use of my name or reference in her article.”

Legally, Delauter has no case. Newspapers are allowed to write about elected officials and things that take place in public meetings. He was mentioned exactly once in the article that started the controversy, regarding discussion at a council meeting about parking issues.

The newspaper has responded with a tongue-in-cheek editorial entitled “Kirby Delauter, Kirby Delauter, Kirby Delauter.” Included among the humorous jests, though, is the statement that the newspaper and its reporters will not let the threat intimidate them and they will continue to do their job.

Sources NPR and Frederick News-Post