The day after Novilee Williams criticized the mayor and argued with a city employee at a council meeting in Tarrant, police showed up at her door with arrest warrants.

An officer arrested 79-year-old Williams last week on charges of disorderly conduct and harassment, taking her to the city jail in the town of 6,000 people just northeast of Birmingham.

“There are some rules for some and then there are rules for others,” said Tarrant Councilwoman Veronica Bandy Freeman. “I can only go by my experience. When a certain person gets attacked, it is a problem. They went overboard in doing that to Ms. Williams.

“I am going to fight for her.”

During the most recent city council meeting on Dec. 4, Williams spoke from her seat in the audience, assailing Mayor Wayman Newton as a corrupt leader.

Video on the city’s Facebook page shows Williams arguing with Shayla Myricks, a city accountant. Williams pushed Myricks’ hand away and told the accountant to “turn around honey,” the video shows.

Myricks filed misdemeanor charges against Williams, according to the police report, which alleges that the 79-year-old Tarrant resident “did engage in fighting and threatening behavior in a public place.”

Freeman said arresting Williams was an overreaction, one that she suspects was politically motivated.

Tarrant is bitterly divided politically as the mayor and council in the north Jefferson County town spar on the dais and in the courtroom over issues ranging from the budget to who gets to work for the town.

Williams is a regular presence at city council meetings where she frequently castigates Mayor Wayman Newton and chastises the council to hold him accountable.

Councilwoman Freeman sobbed after learning about Williams’ arrest.

“That’s a pity and a shame,” Freeman said. “And I feel so bad. That could be somebody’s grandmama, great grandmama.”

Freeman, who frequently clashes with the mayor, said council meetings are often raucous. But those exchanges do not rise to the level of breaking any laws, she said.

Newton told AL.com that he had nothing to do with the interaction nor the arrest.

“But you can’t go putting your hands on people,” he said. “I wasn’t there, and she was arrested when she put her hands on the city accountant. It was the city accountant who wanted to press charges against her. I didn’t even know that it had happened until people started calling me.”

During the meeting on Dec. 4, Williams blasted the mayor in her comments about the ongoing legal battle between the mayor and Tarrant Police Chief Wendell Major. Newton suspended Major on Nov. 11, but the council reinstated the chief during their meeting on Nov. 20. The mayor sued in state court, asking a judge to block the council from reversing his decision to suspend the mayor.

“I believe the mayor is being corrupt,” Williams told the council. “I believe the mayor needs to be charged for something. Something’s got to be done with this man.”

Sitting in front of Williams in the audience, Myricks turned around to speak in defense of the mayor.

“Turn around honey,” Williams shot back.

“If we can’t beat him one way we’ll beat him at the ballot box,” Williams added.

Newton was not in the meeting room during the exchange, as he normally leaves during the public comment period.

When Myricks again turned in her seat to face Williams, the video shows, Williams touched the accountant’s arm and told her to turn around.

“Don’t put your hands on me,” Myricks said.

“Honey, go on,” Williams responded. “I’m a citizen of Tarrant, lady, and I have a right to speak, even though you are in the mayor’s corner, I can see that. I’m not talking to you. I’m talking to the city council.”

Williams briefly stood up from her seat after the exchange, with her hands on her hips.

The argument lasted only about three minutes in the final moments of the council meeting during public comment.

A few minutes later, the city video shows a Tarrant police officer approach Williams, asking for her driver’s license.

Williams was arrested the next day, according to documents obtained by AL.com. Documents show Myricks pressed charges against Williams for harassment and disorderly conduct.

The police report says Williams “did, without lawful authority, direct Myricks to turn around” and “did shove Myricks, by making physical contact, in an attempt to force her to do so.”

AL.com efforts to reach Myricks for comment by phone and email were unsuccessful.

When contacted by AL.com about the incident, Williams declined to elaborate on her case but said she has an attorney.

“Everything is well, and I don’t have a grudge against Wayman and that young lady,” Williams told AL.com after her arrest. “I pray for them.”

Williams’ appearance at city hall was the latest in a series of animated comments where she showed her ire toward the mayor. During a meeting on Nov. 20, Williams took to the podium to directly address Newton, accusing him of creating a conspiracy to get rid of the police chief over a grudge.

A year ago, Tommy Bryant, a Tarrant councilman, punched the mayor outside city hall. Police arrested Bryant, but he was acquitted at trial because a judge determined the mayor had used “fighting words” when making sexually explicit insults about the councilman’s wife.

The mayor and council also remain entangled in another legal battle over the hiring of a city manager. The mayor sued, alleging the council does not have the authority to hire a manager to take over many of his duties.

“Mayor, I ask God to have mercy on your soul,” said Williams during the Nov. 21 council meeting. “I’m sick and tired of people asking ‘What’s wrong with your mayor?’ It’s embarrassing. God’s going to punish you.”