‘Dolton Dictator’ Tiffany Henyard, boyfriend Kamal Woods sued for attacking freedom of speech
“Dolton Dictator” Mayor Tiffany Henyard and her boyfriend are being sued by two men who claim they were attacked for expressing their First Amendment rights during a brawl that erupted at a town hall last month.
Henyard, the scrutinized mayor of Dolton, Illinois, and her boyfriend, Kamal Woods, are accused of attacking activist Jedediah Brown and Lavelle Redmond at the Jan. 28 meeting in Thornton Township.
Video of the wild fisticuffs captured the chaotic moment tempers flared inside the meeting hall after Brown delivered an explicative-filled rant directed at Henyard, who is also the town supervisor of Thornton.
In his allotted time during public comments, Brown called Henyard a “half a–ed mayor,” claiming she had slept her way to the top before holding an informal vote to have the self-proclaimed “super mayor” removed.
“You gone bitch,” Brown said as other residents cheered.
Woods allegedly attacked the activist as he walked away from the microphone as the violent fight erupted inside the government building in South Holland, Ill.
Brown claims Woods, a Thorntown employee, called him a “bitch” and threatened to harm him, according to the federal suit obtained by Fox 32.
Brown and Redmond claim Woods and Dolton employee Demarcus Criggley were given the “green light” to attack them.
The lawsuits allege Woods pushed Redmond who then threw a punch in self-defense before the township employee “dragged” Brown to the ground as the “melee ensued.”
Henyard allegedly got involved and hit both Redmond and Brown with her microphone, striking Brown in the head and back.
Along with the “super mayor” and her beau, the men are suing a Thornton Township employee, a Dolton employee, the South Holland Police and private security firm AllPoints Security and Detective Inc.
The men claim the officers and guards at the meeting should have prevented the fight from breaking out but failed to do so.
After being removed from the meeting, Brown claims he was put into a separate room where he was attacked again.
The Cook County resident accused two private security guards of throwing him into a closed room where they wrestled with him for a minute and a half, “banging (Brown’s) head and elbows against the wall and floor.”
An unidentified Thornton employee allegedly struck Brown hard in the back of the neck after he escaped the private room.
Brown says he lost three veneers and suffered injuries to his face, abdomen, elbows and back during the brawl.
Brown and Redmond accused Henyard, Woods, Criggley and the two private security guards of suppressing their Constitutional right to freedom of speech by using intimidation and physical force.
The defendants are also accused of violation of due process, battery, assault, negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Both men asked for a trial by jury in the civil case and are seeking an undisclosed amount for “compensatory damages” that would pay for Brown’s medical expenses and treatments, his emotional distress/pain and suffering and the value of a new phone for the one Redmond lost during the brawl.
Woods, who ran the youth township program for Thornton, was placed on administrative leave alongside William Moore – another ally to Henyard – at the Jan. 28 meeting.
The Thornton Township Board voted to fire both Woods and Moore for their roles in the fight at the Feb. 6 board meeting, CBS Chicago reported.
The brawl occurred as Henyard had recently lost the Democratic nomination for Thornton Township supervisor but claimed she lost because of voter suppression.
The brawl happened, too, just days after Henyard was found in contempt of court for allegedly stonewalling liquor licenses for months.
