Related Articles
A meeting that involved addressing allegations of corruption and lavish spending against scandal-ridden “supermayor” Tiffany Henyard descended into chaos on Monday as her opponents and supporters clashed in Dolton, Illinois.
The scuffle in the small town south of Chicago took place after Dolton trustees voted, 4-2, to reinstate former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot to investigate Henyard, who has been accused of using village funds as her own piggy bank by billing taxpayers thousands of dollars for her hair and makeup team as well as going on a lavish trip to Las Vegas.
Police broke up the altercation, which almost came to blows, as Henyard and the trustees cleared the room.
DOLTON BOARD MAKES NEW MOVE AGAINST SCANDAL-RIDDEN ‘SUPERMAYOR’ TIFFANY HENYARD
A meeting aimed to address allegations of corruption and lavish spending against scandal-ridden Mayor Tiffany Henyard descended into chaos on Monday as her opponents and supporters clashed in a fiery confrontation. (WFLD)
The town had previously hired Lightfoot to look into Henyard, but the Dolton mayor, who previously insisted that “God chose me,” vetoed the move. Henyard also previously vetoed the board’srequest to launch a federal investigationinto gathering information on her alleged spending and finance mismanagement.
“We are not going to allow anyone stop us or obstruct our ability to get to the facts,” Lightfoot said during the meeting, but she was being drowned out by Henyard and trustees who made several attempts to talk over her, Fox 32 Chicago reported. Lightfoot’s microphone was also turned off as she tried to speak, according to a report.
The incident capped off more than two hours of heated debate as village residents packed the chamber to air their grievances against Henyard, blasting her apparent lack of transparency on the spending of village finances.
“You’re not going to understand until they come and put cuffs on you,” resident Thelma Gant said, referring to a separate FBI probe.
Henyard stared down and appeared to ignore most of the public commenters, Fox 32 reports.
Afterward, Henyard blamed the media and what she sees as a political smear campaign for all the heat.
DEMOCRATIC ILLINOIS ‘SUPERMAYOR’ VETOES ATTEMPT TO PROBE HER LAVISH SPENDING
Tiffany Henyard’s outfits are professionally styled by a fashion expert. (stylemebrandon | Instagram/screenshot)
“You guys are following a fiction, a made-up story,” Henyard said into her golden microphone.
Lightfoot has continued to work on the investigation, though she has yet to receive payment for her work, according to NBC Chicago. Her investigation is expected to be complete in 60 days, the outlet reported. Lightfoot was initially expected to be paid $400 an hour, but Henyard previously said she would not be paid.
Henyard has drawn national attention to the small town, which has a population of around 21,500. Dolton residents havealready called for Henyard’s resignation and for her to be arrested.
Earlier in the day, village officials blocked off the street in front of Village Hall, making residents park a block away and walk.
“You made the elderly and the disabled walk here,” Gant said. “I hope you’re proud of yourself, Tiffany Henyard.”
Henyard has been dubbed the“worst mayor in America”by critics after being accused of financial misdeeds as well as weaponizing police raids. Most recently, she has also come under fire for an alleged sexual assault by one of her allies during the Vegas trip, where the alleged victim claims to have been fired after speaking out. Henyard’s cancer charity is also facing scrutiny.
Fox News Digital previously reported that Henyard has been living like a royal with a combined salary of nearly $300,000, more than the state’s governor, and frequent use of beauty vendors despite the town’s residents having a median income of $24,000.
In April, the FBI served two federal subpoenas as part of an investigation. Henyard was not served.
The first one was for employment records, personnel files and disciplinary reports for 25 Dolton employees, including three police officers and Keith Freeman, who is the village administrator and Henyard’s top aide. Freeman was charged with bankruptcy fraud.
Former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, left, and Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard (Getty Images | Village of Dolton)
The second subpoena was served specifically for Freeman, asking for records of all companies associated with him and possible ties to the village.
In February, it was reported that theFBI was investigatingHenyard after six people had reportedly spoken to the agency about her alleged misconduct, including “business owners, a former village employee and one or more public officials.”
Last month, board members of Dolton appointed a mayor pro tempore to sign off on village business and pay bills, saying Henyard had missed 25 of the special meetings and refused to allow some business tobe puton the agenda for the village’s regular meetings,
Henyard has appealed to racial politics amid her scandals before, proclaiming during a previous meeting, “You all got false narratives out there, and you all should be ashamed of [yourselves]. You all Black, you all are Black! And you all sitting up here beating and attacking on aBlack woman that’s in power.You all should be ashamed of [yourselves].”
Mayor Tiffany Henyard posted a video from when she met President Biden. (Tiffany Henyard’s Instagram page)
Lightfoot later released a statement encouraging Henyard to cooperate with her investigation.
“I commend the Village of Dolton Board of Trustees for decisively exercising their authority to override Mayor Henyard’s veto and preventing any attempts to stall an independent investigation into the matters outlined in the resolution,” the statement reads, in part.
“They understand that village residents deserve a transparent and thorough process.”
Michael Dorgan is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business.
You can send tips to michael.dorgan@fox.com and follow him on Twitter @M_Dorgan.
