Activist handcuffed after confronting Dolton Trustee Andrew Holmes at meeting
DOLTON, Ill. (CBS) — A Chicago activist was taken away in handcuffs after attempting to confront a village trustee at a board meeting in Dolton on Monday night.
This comes nearly a month after another chaotic village board meeting and clashes between city trustees and Mayor Tiffany Henyard amid claims she misused public funds.
During the meeting Monday night, activist Jedidiah Brown confronted village trustee Andrew Holmes over allegations he sexually assaulted a former village employee.
"Did you rape that woman?" Brown said. "Did you put something in her drink? And dammit, you're gonna answer and you're gonna answer me. I promise."
Holmes did not respond.
Brown then walked from the podium over to Holmes. An officer pushed Brown away while Holmes was stopped from walking over to him. Brown was eventually pulled out of the meeting by officers.
A former Dolton employee filed a civil lawsuit claiming Holmes sexually assaulted her while attending a conference for the village in Las Vegas in May of last year. He has not been criminally charged.
Holmes was fired from the nonprofit Chicago Survivors crime victim advocacy group after the accusation.
Brown was charged with a misdemeanor for resisting arrest in connection with Monday night's meeting and spent close to 24 hours in Dolton police custody. He said Dolton leaders tried to get a felony charge for his actions.
When he was released from police custody Tuesday afternoon, a group of supporters was there to greet him.
"When you challenge this administration, you go to jail," Brown said to the crowd. "When you ask them questions, they don't answer."
Henyard and her administration have been under fire for the village's finances and lack of transparency. The FBI has already served subpoenas for records.
Firefighters' union contract
Members of Local 3766, the firefighters' union, also spoke up at Monday night's meeting, accusing the village of not working to resolve claims that money has been taken out of their paychecks, but not put into their retirement funds.
"Since 2020 the village has chose not to settle a contract and refused to bargain with us," Local 3766 President Adam Farej said. "They have ignored our requests to reach an agreement and resolve the current situation going on within the fire department."
Union members also said their health insurance premiums are not being paid by the village, which has led to claims being denied or sent to collections.
Village leaders did not respond to questions about how the issue would be resolved.
Update on Lori Lightfoot's investigation
During the meeting, there was also an update on former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot's investigation into Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard.
Lightfoot in April agreed to investigate claims that Henyard misused public funds. After Lightfoot tried to speak from the crowd during June's village board meeting things quickly started to get chaotic.
In an email read during Monday night's meeting, Lightfoot wrote she is making "consistent progress" digging into the accusations that Henyard misused village money.
Henyard has repeatedly denied those claims.
The FBI is conducting an investigation at Dolton Village Hall, although they haven't elaborated on who is being investigated.
