A Pennsylvania lawmaker was cited for disorderly conduct for blowing an air horn during a borough council meeting.

West York Councilman Tim Berkheimer pulled out the air horn and blew it at the peak of a heated, three-hour long debate Monday night over parking meters in the borough.

During the meeting, which had deteriorated into shouting and accusations, Berkheimer said a man in the crowd who was upset with him started toward the borough council table and approached him “in a threatening manner.”The man had accused Berkheimer of staring at him, Berkheimer said, asking the councilman, “What're you staring at?” Berkheimer said he replied, “It's a free country. I can stare at what ever I want to stare at.”

That was when the man came toward the table.

“It looked like he was going to come over the table so I pulled out the only thing I had, the air horn,” he said. “It was self defense.”

Police confiscated the air horn and issued a citation.

Berkheimer believes he was cited because the police have it in for him.

“This is just harassment on the part of the police department,” he said. ”I'll be fighting it.”

The citation is for a summary charge, which carries a maximum of 90 days in jail and a $300 fine.