Members of a city committee whose meeting with Rahm Emanuel got side-tracked when the mayor was attacked by mental health activists this week claim the confrontation that went viral was “clearly staged.”
Leah Root, president of the Wicker Park Committee, released a statement Friday expressing their disappointment that two members of the audience, who she says are not members of their committee, “imposed on the rest of the participants by interrupting Mr. Emanuel’s initial comments and launching into a 10-minute, rambling discourse on Mr. Emanuel’s mental health stance.”
The Wicker Park Committee had invited the mayor to speak at their monthly meeting, but little did they know two activists in the audience had their own agenda.
“The disruption was clearly staged, including videotaping their entire confrontation,” Root said in a statement on Facebook. “They also ignored several requests to wrap up their comments, sit down, or leave by the Wicker Park Committee Board and by Park District security.”
Despite the unexpected confrontation, the mayor remained calm and collected and asked the questioners, to whom he listened respectfully, to afford him the same courtesy of respect.
To watch the video of the entire confrontation unfold, click here.
