Outgoing Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot received some very specific instructions from a longtime critic at a city council meeting earlier this week: "Get the hell out of my city."
During the public comment portion of Wednesday's meeting, journalist William Kelly berated the controversial politician for her failed leadership, including her COVID-19 pandemic response.
"You shut down our schools, you shut down the churches, you shut down the businesses," Kelly ranted, according to a video posted by Forbes.
"You did the one thing that I thought could never happen," he said. "As someone who was born and raised on the south side of Chicago, I never thought in my life that I would ever see the city of Chicago brought down so low as you have managed to bring it down.
"Shame on you," Kelly admonished. "That is a legacy that you are going to have to carry."
Kelly, the president and executive producer of the TV production and event company RevDigital, has frequently tangled with the mayor during her tenure and sued both her and the city last year, Fox News reported Thursday.
During his remarks, Kelly claimed that Lightfoot withdrew his press credentials as punishment for speaking out against her leadership.
"I should be sitting over there with my colleagues, but I'm standing over here because on a weekly basis, I was going viral asking you obvious questions and instead of answering them, you told me that crime was down," the journalist said. "My videos went viral, amassed millions of likes and shares, and it was hurting your re-election campaign, so you revoked my media credential.
"I feel like this is more like a victim impact statement than an actual public comment," he said. "What you've done to me is nothing compared to what you've done to my city, the city of Chicago, the city that I was born and raised in, the city that I love with all my heart."
Lightfoot's response to Kelly cannot be heard in the video but causes him to sling, "You are a pandemic," at her before exiting.
Elected in 2019, the Democrat mayor lost her reelection race last month. She has been sharply criticized for her inability to rein in skyrocketing crime in the Windy City. During her one term in office, Chicago's murder rate skyrocketed by 40%. According to the Post, the 800 murders in the city in 2021 were the highest in 25 years.
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