Residents condemn Dolton Mayor Henyard at chaotic meeting: 'Worst mayor in America’
Tiffany Henyard, the embattled mayor of Dolton, Illinois, faced such an outcry of anger from town residents that many had to be kept outside the building.
The Village of Dolton, Illinois' monthly town hall meeting has made national headlines yet again for fiery confrontations with scandal-ridden mayor Tiffany Henyard.
Henyard has been accused of misdeeds ranging from weaponizing police in retaliatory business raids to spending taxpayer money on luxuries like traveling to Las Vegas. Last month, Henyard reportedly vetoed the board’s resolution to probe her spending over purported misuse of funds.
While the FBI has allegedly already begun to investigate Henyard for purportedly misusing her local police force, the board’s resolution had called for the FBI to do further investigation into her spending of the town’s money.
The FBI is reportedly probing misconduct allegations regarding Dolton, Illinois, Mayor Tiffany Henyard after a local business owner claimed his business was punished for refusing to donate to her event. (Celal Güneş/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
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This month, Henyard ramped up security measures for the Village of Dolton’s monthly board meeting, restricting access to the building to the point that many residents were left outside. Even so, FOX 32 Chicago reported that many residents who made it past new security checks had their chance to hammer the mayor over a wide range of grievances.
One woman approached the microphone, warning the audience, "I apologize if I seem irate, I had my radiation today, I have cancer, of course I do. Tiffany stole money from a cancer foundation. How dare you? How dare you steal, and I helped you with your campaign, how dare you steal from us? I have to buy my wigs, are you going to reimburse me for the wigs that I've been spending my money on?"
She appeared to be referring to the "Tiffany Henyard CARES Foundation," which, per the acronym, stands for Cancer And Remission Empowering Survivors. Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul has reportedly begun to crack down on this purported cancer charity for not being transparent about its financial reports.
One woman who approached the microphone to slam Henyard claimed that she had endured radiation treatment for her cancer that day and that Henyard stole money from a cancer charity and the people of Dolton themselves. (FOX 32)
A woman named Cara Wilson, who has sued the Dolton police department over the police shooting of her 19-year-old daughter amid a confrontation at a drive-through, urged people to watch the video of the incident themselves and declared her daughter "did nothing to deserve this." Wilson went on to slam Henyard directly, claiming she was refusing to look her in the eye because she did not "give a damn."
Wilson also asserted that while her daughter had no criminal record, that Henyard does herself, to the point she used her mugshot in a protest. The mother finished her commentary by saying, "So let's tell the truth, which I know you're incapable of. I wouldn't trust this woman if she stood on a stack of Bibles and had her tongue notarized — not a damn thing she says comes out her mouth is true."
Another resident was one of many calling for Henyard to step down.
A crowd of Dolton residents wait outside the building where town hall meetings take place. (FOX 32)
"This has to end, I'm so disappointed in what's been happening in Dolton," the resident said. "Mayor, you need to step down because you have disgraced this village, you really have, everybody up there need to go. We need to know what's happening with our money."
She then appeared to reference an alleged sexual assault and retaliation scandal that occurred during Henyard's infamous Las Vegas trip, where the alleged victim claims to have been fired after speaking out.
"You need to address what happened in Vegas and you have been silent and it's not—that's not going to fly," the resident said. "You know what happened in Vegas, you know what happened, you should be addressing it, saying something to the residents about it and we want to know where our money is at. We're tired of you just spending our money any type of way that you want to. It's not fair, it needs to go across the board."
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Another resident called on Henyard to "stop blowing smoke up the residents’ behinds" and later remarked, "They say that you're the worst mayor in America. I agree."
When Henyard responded, she spent much of her time blasting members of the media, arguing they were using the town's political feuds as clickbait. Dolton Police Chief Lewis Lacey noted he was open to speaking to the media shortly before he announced the meeting was being shut down for safety reasons.
Fox News Digital reached out to Mayor Henyard's office for comment. A spokesperson stated, "Access to the Dolton Village Hall has been restructured to protect our staff due to the overwhelming amount of threats of violence as a result of the continuous misinformation portrayed by the media and internet bloggers who are using Dolton as a means to generate ratings and revenue, i.e. clickbait. Our staff and elected officials have received several disturbing communications via email, social media, phone calls and visitors from across the country. As such, our security protocols have changed."
The statement continued, "The safety of our staff elected officials and residents is our top priority and we will continue to work with law enforcement to monitor this situation as it progresses."
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