UPDATE 3/20/13, 11:37 a.m. EST: Black has apologized for his behavior. Black claims that Mayor James is “disillusioned” when it comes to the true state of the city:
“This is Derron Black. I’m here on 11th and Locust, downtown Kansas City at police headquarters. It is the 19th day of March, 6 p.m., and I’m just reflecting on all today’s events and I would just to apologize to all my fellow Kansas Citians for being disrespectful and disruptive today. But also would like to challenge Sly James because he just seems to be definitely disillusioned with the condition of our city right now.
“If you have listened to the State of the City, and if you have any consciousness about the true reality of the condition of the people east of Troost or just throughout Kansas City in general, you would absolutely be frustrated just like I am. But it’s okay. Everything — everything is from the Lord above, and I would like to tell everybody that will see you tomorrow 1300 hours when I’m finally released, Lord willing. Thank you.”
Listen to his remarks below:
On Tuesday, as Kansas City Mayor Sly James (pictured far left) delivered his State of the City address, he was interrupted by Democrat Derron Black (pictured middle), who reportedly ran for a House seat in 2012 and lost. In Black’s brief uproar, he seemed to bemoan both James’ and the city’s progress by yelling expletives in to the microphone before being taken down by the mayor’s bodyguards, according to MSN.
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After a well-received performance by saxophonist Bobby Watson and University of Missouri-Kansas City students, Mayor James went up to the podium to discuss the city’s recent accomplishments:
“We built Crown Center, we built Kemper Arena, we built a new airport, and let’s not forget our title role in that smash film “Kansas City Bomber,” featuring Raquel Welch. [Laughter]
“Those early efforts resulted in $5 billion in investment.”
Barely finishing his final line, Black jumped on to the stage, took control of the microphone, and pounded on the podium, yelling, “This man had just gotten through talking about what the f*ck he ain’t goddamn did!”
Mayor James’ bodyguard, Marlon Buie, quickly tackled the man to the stage, with the Kansas City resident screaming, “Hey, man, get the f*ck off me!”
Black was then reportedly removed from the stage to a back room and unceremoniously handcuffed. As he was taken out of the venue and to jail, Black called out Councilman Jermaine Reed, “City Councilman Reed can’t even show up city-appointed meetings. He can’t even be there to actually govern his own f*cking city.”
Soon after, the Mayor said, “It’s unfortunate that we have people who feel that somehow we have left them behind. I don’t blame him for whatever feelings he wanted to express. I do have a small problem with the method.”
Watch the bizarre incident here:
Unlike many areas across the country, Kansas City has enjoyed aggressive job growth since 2011, according to the Kansas City Star. While the current national unemployment rate is at 7.7 percent, Kansas City’s rate dropped to an impressive 6.4 percent in December of 2012.
As with many American cites, south of Missouri’s River still struggles with high-homicide rates, even though North of the river has seen literally 3 murders a year.
At press time, authorities still haven’t been able to ascertain exactly what caused Black’s outburst or clarify his message.
Angry Man Takes Mic From Kansas City Mayor During Speech was originally published on newsone.com
