Executive Director Sharon Swope:

1.  Notice of Immediate Resignation

This correspondence serves as notice of my immediate resignation from the Mid-IA Triumph Recovery Center, Inc. (“center”) Board of Directors and employment, effective immediately, due to your handling of anomalies brought to your attention between 08 JUN 2026 and 10 JUN 2026. My information systems account with the center has been deleted and removed from all of my devices, and a placeholder admin account has been created for you to assign to my successor. As of the transmission of this email, I will no longer be providing any information system services to the center, nor will I be accessing the center’s information system resources. It is the responsibility of the center to reset the password for the new admin account and safeguard these credentials.

2.  After Action Report

On 08 JUN 2026, a member of the center produced evidence of unwarranted aggressiveness and hostility that was manifesting an unhealthy and unsafe environment for employees and members of the center. At approximately 1500, this member produced evidence of immense physical aggression and hostility while communicating what evidence I witnessed and testimony this male member communicated to me supported his intent to verbally attack and falsely accuse a targeted female member of theft (while communicating an apparent understanding that this allegation was false) for what appeared to be the purpose of intimidating, alarming, and annoying this female citizen of Marshalltown, IA, and member of the center (see Iowa Code Section 708.7).

Mitigation Actions That I Completed To Protect the Well-Being and Safety of Mid-IA Triumph Recovery Center Members and Employees

1. I attempted to reason with this member through logic for the purpose of de-escalating the hostility and aggressiveness this member was communicating and manifesting within his physical demeanor and behavior.
2. Upon the failure of these de-escalation attempts, and with regard to my concerns that more significant violations of Iowa Code Chapter 708 may occur if this member was in the physical presence of the female member he communicated an intention to direct this behavior toward, I notified the male member that no employee or member of the center was going to be treated in the manner that he openly communicated an intention to execute his behavior against or toward and that any such conduct would be reported to the Marshalltown, IA, Police Department and that he would be requested to depart the premises. I then contacted you and requested that you contact the female member that was the communicated target of the male member’s behavior and request that she not show up at the center at her usual daily time of approximately 1600. With respect to your busy schedule, I made an effort to locate the contact information of the female member (for redundancy purposes) who was to be the target of the male member’s behavior and, upon successfully locating the female member’s contact information within internal files, I contacted this member and requested that she not visit the center for the purpose of protecting this female member from the male member’s communicated intentions toward her until you had an opportunity to talk to the male member who communicated an intent to violate the health, well-being, safety, rights, and liberties of the female member.
3. On 10 JUN 2026, the male member’s continued hostile and aggressive behavior was again brought to your attention. Upon review of steps that had been taken to date, you accused me of threatening the male member manifesting this aggressive behavior that threatened the health, well-being, safety, rights, and liberties of another member because I communicated an intention to notify law enforcement to the male member if he produced evidence of conduct that could violate the law against the female member that was consistent with his communicated intent to violate her health, well-being, safety, rights, and liberties. I then stepped out of the room for a moment to process the context of your dialogue while preparing a professional response. Upon my communication to you that I respectfully disagreed with your analysis and conclusions regarding my professional conduct in this matter, you proceeded to communicate to me that I do not have a right to disagree with you and that I am to learn from you. This entire conversation occurred in the main community room of the center with other employees and members of the center present.

3.  Conclusion

• As a citizen of the City of Marshalltown, IA, and the State of Iowa, it is my duty to protect the health, well-being, safety, rights, and liberties of other citizens from violations of the law and report evidence of historical events or any evidence or communicated intent regarding planned, premeditated, or proposed future events that may negatively impact or harm another citizen of the City of Marshalltown, IA, the State of Iowa, or a member of the center.
• As employees of a mental health drop-in center, it is our responsibility to educate, support, and de-escalate behavior that may arise from mental health challenges. However, that responsibility does not diminish our concurrent obligation to protect the health, well-being, safety, rights, and liberties of other members, employees, and citizens who may be affected by the conduct of another individual. When concerns arise regarding the potential safety or well-being of another person, I believe it is our duty to take reasonable steps to prevent harm, de-escalate conflict, and, when appropriate, notify the proper authorities.
• Based on evidence I experienced and witnessed regarding the center leadership’s handling of this situation and conduct toward myself, a full report of these events including the name and contact information of the targeted female citizen/member was provided to the Marshalltown, IA, Police Department at approximately 1700 on 10 JUN 2026.

With regard to my historical experiences in the State of Iowa regarding being falsely accused (while those who made these allegations had zero supporting evidence as supported by statewide law enforcement records and court documents) of stalking (§708.11), harassing (§708.7), government body disturbance (§718.3), threatening, and abusive behavior, I respectfully submit that your behavior and allegations toward me on 10 JUN 2026, Executive Director Swope, were not only unsupported by the evidence but also demonstrated a complete lack of concern for my mental health and historical traumas that have been reported to you in your capacity as the Executive Director of a peer-support driven mental health drop-in facility. I have blocked all personnel from the Mid-IA Triumph Recovery Center on my personal devices, and I respectfully request no further direct or indirect contact from this organization, its employees, members, or any other points of contact related to the same.

Executive Director Swope, I believe from my interactions with you that you are a person of good spirit and intent, but after events that occurred on 10 JUN 2026 and your handling of this situation and behavior toward me regarding your interpretation of my professional actions and conduct that the evidence supports successfully protected the health, well-being, safety, rights, and liberties of another citizen of the City of Marshalltown, IA, and a member of your center, I have zero desire to have any further association with the Mid-IA Triumph Recovery Center, its leadership, or employees, as a board member, employee, or member of the center and it is my expectation that these parameters will be adhered to.

Respectfully,

Michael J. Merritt, USN (Ret.)
Founder:  Pyre Harbor
Writer/Musician
Information Systems Manager/Engineer
Information Warfare Specialist – OSINT
 2510 S 6TH ST D24
Marshalltown, IA 50158
 cipher.hunter@pyreharbor.net
Matrix
pyreharbor.net
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“The study of ethics is a pursuit of understanding the philosophical nature of right and wrong in its most perfect form. A society’s justice system is an ever-evolving pursuit of that perfection. Corruption is the cultural, political, or personal bias that overrules and interferes with that system.”  Perfection, Flaws, and Corruption

Legal Disclaimer:  Pyre Harbor (2026-00000784), Cipher Hunter (2026-00000785), Pyrebird (2026-00000787), Pyrewolf (2026-00000786), and Mirebird (2026-00000783) are registered trade names in Marshall County, IA.

Distribution:
State of Iowa Department of Health and Human Services
City of Marshalltown, IA
City of Marshalltown, IA Police Department
United Way – Marshalltown, IA