Harvey alderperson removed from city council meeting, arrested; accused of repeated disruptions
Emotions ran high at a recent city council meeting in south suburban Harvey, Illinois, as an alderperson was hauled off by police in the middle of the meeting.
Mayor Christopher Clark said at the council's meeting on April 28, Ald. Colby Chapman (2nd Ward) kept bringing up a constituent's issue about a home that he claims had already been addressed.
The mayor said Chapman was disruptive three times during that meeting, leading him to ask the council members to vote on censure Chapman and remove her from the meeting.
"The 2nd Ward Alderman was out of order," Clark said.
Video shot by a frequent critic of the mayor, and shared on Chapman's aldermanic Facebook page, shows Chapman refusing to be removed. An officer then came to gather her belongings, prompting Chapman to say: "Don't touch my stuff!"
Then Chapman pushed the officer, and was led out by police. She tried to stay in the meeting by holding onto the door.
Harvey Chief of Police Cameron Biddings said she was later placed in handcuffs off camera.
"This is an opportunity for the usual biweekly grandstanding we normally get from this particular alderperson, which is why in my opinion that the other alderpersons were so readily available to issue a motion of censure, because this is not the first time that we've had to deal with this," Clark said.
The mayor said Chapman has been censured and asked to leave city council meetings on two other occasions.
During the incident on April 28, she was arrested and charged with battery of a law enforcement officer, disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest. Biddings said Chapman's mother was also arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.
"There's a barrier that we have inside of city hall, and we don't allow residents to come past, and during the commotion her mother walked past that barrier. We asked her to step back. She didn't want to do so we ended up having her escorted out. She walked out following her daughter, and then when we were asking them to leave the facility, she did not want to leave the building," Biddings said.
When asked for comment, Chapman said she'll be having a news conference on May 12 at 6 p.m. at Harvey City Hall.
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