The outspoken mayor of Anchorage, Alaska, has been forced to admit he turned off the fluoridation of the city’s water supply for around five hours before discovering that he wasn’t actually allowed to do that. Last weekend, Mayor Dave Bronson—who made headlines this year for his defense of anti-vaccine protesters who wore the yellow Star of David to signal their supposed oppression—denied claims that he meddled with the city’s water supply. However, in a Tuesday statement, he admitted it. Bronson’s office claimed workers complained to him that fluoride “burned the eyes and throats of staff who handled it,” leading to his decision to turn off the supply. However, that claim was disputed by union leaders who represent the workers. “It doesn’t make any sense,” said president of the Anchorage Municipal Employees Association, Jon Cecil. Conspiracists have been obsessed with the fluoridation of drinking water since the 1950s, falsely claiming that it’s a public-health risk or some form of population control. Bronson’s office said the supply was turned back on five hours after it was switched off after the action was found to violate the city’s municipal code.