Controversial Illinois mayor involved in massive brawl at board meeting
Thornton Township Supervisor Tiffany Heynard reportedly lost a shoe and was thrown to the ground during fracas
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Your support makes all the difference.An Illinois mayor became embroiled in a massive brawl at a town meeting when someone in attendance reportedly called her a “b***h.”
The fight broke out at the Thornton Township Board of Trustees meeting on Tuesday evening and saw Supervisor Tiffany Heynard lose a shoe and get thrown to the ground.
After the comment was directed towards her by activist Jedidiah Brown, Henyard’s boyfriend, Kamal Woods, confronted the man, causing the scuffle to break out, according to FOX32.
Henyard, who also holds the position of Mayor of Dolton, reportedly pushed her table to one side and rushed to the back of the room where she allegedly got involved in the brawl, the outlet reported.
Security officers swiftly broke up the squabble and police arrived and at least one person was escorted out, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Police said they had not made any arrests after the incident.
This week’s incident was caught on video and shows numerous attendees joining the altercation as few bystanders attempt to break it up. The Independent has contacted Heynard’s office for comment.
Her lawyers said on Tuesday that Heynard had been “verbally assaulted, and her personal safety threatened” at the meeting.
![Tiffany Heynard’s photo on the Village of Dolton’s website](https://static.the-independent.com/2025/01/29/22/01/Image-1-29-25-at-4-38-PM.jpeg)
On Wednesday morning, trustees issued the following comments about the incident: “We are deeply disturbed by the events that transpired during last night’s board meeting.”
“As public officials, we are entrusted with leading through professionalism, integrity and respect. What began as a productive discussion on critical community matters descended into chaos and violence, behavior that has no place in Thornton Township and will not be tolerated.”
Henyard has become embroiled in controversy after her government reportedly went millions of dollars into debt without explanation from her office. On Monday, former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot revealed findings of an investigation into Henyard’s alleged mismanagement of village finances.
Lightfood found Henyard allegedly mismanaged funds through “excessive” spending, hid financial information from trustees and the public and disregarded transparency guardrails.
“Beginning at least as early as late 2021, there was a concerted, systematic effort on behalf of Mayor Henyard and others in her administration to hide the true financial condition of the Village of Dolton from the trustees and from members of the public,” Lightfoot recently told local officials.
Among the findings were $779,000 in village debt without receipts or an explanation of what was bought and a $171,000 bill for unexplained travel expenses to Las Vegas for a convention held by the International Council of Shopping Centers. Additionally, Henyard’s government reportedly spent $51,000 on area restaurants and simply wrote them off as meals or doughnuts.
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