A Penn Forest Township auditor who has been accused of assaulting a Carbon County detective announced his intentions to run for state representative Thursday.

Matthew Schutter, 45, who was arraigned before District Judge Edward Lewis last Friday on charges that include felony aggravated assault, was at the Carbon County Commissioners meeting. A sheriff's deputy, Sheriff Tony Harvilla, Jim Thorpe police and two state police officers were also present at the meeting.During the guest portion of the meeting, Schutter, who had been in the Carbon County Correctional Facility until making bail early Thursday morning, spoke about his treatment in this legal matter before announcing his plan to run for the 122nd legislative district position as the libertarian candidate."I would like to talk about my lawsuit I have and about my incarceration," he said.Commissioners' Chairman Wayne Nothstein interjected that Schutter nor the commissioners could speak about an open legal issue at the meeting and asked him to stop.Schutter shot back, "I have the floor, sir. It's not a legal issue, I'm making a public comment. I have the floor."He said that a member of the commissioners, but did not name him, made comments about the matter previously."I think this is a little revenge to throw me in a cage," Schutter said. "Well you know what, I'm not guilty."He said that the police report in the case that was reported on by media outlets is backwards and that it was he, not the detective, who was assaulted following a confrontation."You want a war, you've got one," Schutter said. "I'm running for the 122nd legislative district as the libertarian candidate and all three of you are going down when I win."After the meeting, Schutter said that he had not yet filed the necessary paperwork with the Department of State to run for state representative, but said that he intends to file it in the next few days.Schutter's issue with the county stems from in incident in the courthouse that occurred on March 28.During that incident, Schutter allegedly assaulted county detective Tim Nothstein and caused a disturbance despite being asked to leave the building by sheriff's deputies.Schutter, on March 29, filed a complaint against Nothstein, claiming that it was Nothstein who attacked him when he was at the district attorney's office and that he only struck Nothstein in self-defense.He said in the complaint that he was then thrown to the floor, shackled by a sheriff's deputy and placed in a holding cell until near closing time.As a result, the county commissioners, on April 14, hired attorney Frank L. Tamulonis Jr. as the special counsel for the county in the case at $140 per hour plus expenses.The case is being prosecuted by the state attorney general's office.Schutter's preliminary hearing is scheduled for 3:15 p.m. on May 25 at Lewis' office.