Mayor Brandon Johnson’s floor leader is being accused of physically blocking one of his City Council colleagues from the chamber during a heated hearing on Thursday afternoon.
According to multiple members of the City Council, including Ald. Raymond Lopez, Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa kept an alderperson from reaching the floor while a quorum call was going on in the chamber.
“I literally had to put my body directly against him and push him back, so that she could break herself free to get into the chamber and away from his grip,” Lopez said.
Ald. Scott Waguespack said he heard from colleagues that Ramirez-Rosa threatened the alderperson, who NBC Chicago has decided not to name.
Feeling out of the loop? We'll catch you up on the Chicago news you need to know. Sign up for the weekly Chicago Catch-Up newsletter here.
“I heard from a couple other aldermen that he had threatened them as well,” Waguespack said. “We saw a picture unfold that is unbecoming for an alderman.”
Waguespack says that he is filing a letter of censure, and several other members of the City Council plan to do likewise.
Local
Lopez went one step further, calling for Ramirez-Rosa to resign in a social media post.
“I am thoroughly disgusted and infuriated by floor leader Ramirez-Rosa harassing and manhandling my colleague,” he said. “No man has the right to lay hands on anyone, let alone grab a woman and physically block her from exiting. You are clearly a threat to women, especially of color. Resign!”
Ramirez-Rosa has not yet responded to requests for comment from NBC Chicago.
The heated confrontations occurred as members of the council attempted to put together a quorum to discuss the ongoing crisis over finding housing for migrants being bused into Chicago.
Several members of the City Council, including Lopez, are calling for a referendum to be placed on the March ballot to determine whether Chicago should remain a “sanctuary city.”
At issue is how to continue financing shelter and other essentials for more than 20,000 migrants that have arrived in the city in the last 14 months.
Johnson was not at Thursday's hearing, appearing in Washington to ask for federal assistance in dealing with the issue.
During Thursday’s meeting, multiple quorum calls took place, and at one point during the proceedings, a move was made to adjourn the proceedings, with lights being turned off and members of the council being asked to leave the room.
Ramirez-Rosa, who was tasked with whipping up support for the mayor to turn back the challenge, says that squabbles over “sanctuary city” status have nothing to do with providing material support for migrants, as “sanctuary city” status refers to cooperating with federal law enforcement as they ascertain whether individuals are in the country legally.
“Our sanctuary city policy, which is a public safety policy, has nothing to do whatsoever with this humanitarian crisis,” he said. ‘They didn’t do their homework. What they wanted was chaos, was demagoguery, and that’s what we got.”
Ald. Anthony Beale, who brought up the idea of a referendum, says he is concerned with the city’s financial picture amid the crisis.
“I bring this to the floor not to keep Chicago from being a sanctuary city, but to find some compromise to stop the bleeding,” he said.
The City Council is expected to meet again on Tuesday, and the measure could once again come before lawmakers.
