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Alderman Byron Shabazz rebukes mayor over recognition of Charlie Kirk
Summary
At the Sept. 17 meeting, Alderman Byron Shabazz delivered a personal and forceful statement criticizing the mayor's recognition of Charlie Kirk, calling Kirk's record "reprehensible" for racism, sexism and violent rhetoric; Shabazz emphasized he spoke for himself, not the full council.
Alderman Byron Shabazz used his committee-report time on Sept. 17 to sharply criticize Mayor Michael J. Inman for recognizing conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, saying the decision caused pain for many in the community and listing a history of racist and violent rhetoric he attributed to Kirk.
"The recognition of Charlie Kirk... whose banner was racism, sexism, violence, anti anybody other than a white man," Shabazz said, adding that he spoke on his own behalf: "This is Byron talking. So if anybody wants to write and disagree with my position, you can write me." He said the recognition was "a slap in the face" to historical movements and to those who had suffered violence.
Shabazz framed the remarks as a personal objection rather than an official council position and urged his colleagues to consider the harm caused by honoring individuals with a record of divisive statements. He also cited the recent string of national violent incidents at the start of the meeting as context for asking the council to "think of... how this man made us feel." No formal motion or vote followed the remarks, and no substantive response from the mayor was recorded in the public portion of the meeting.
The exchange followed other routine business, including contract awards and procurement decisions; the council later moved into executive session on a separate real-property matter.
