Mayor, Councilor, Engage in Brawl at Meeting

| published December 16, 2015 |

By Thursday Review staff

Two elected political leaders got into a nasty fistfight backstage on Tuesday which landed one in the hospital, forced both to seek immediate medical treatment for wounds, and sparked a legal fracas over who started the brawl and who was at fault.

No, we are not referring to Tuesday’s debate between the Republican candidates for President, though millions of Americans tuned in expecting perhaps just such an outcome.

The fight, which wrought serious injuries and has triggered lawsuits by both participants, took place just outside the city council chambers in Birmingham, Alabama, where Mayor William Bell and city councilor Marcus Lundy engaged in a physical altercation which escalated from pushing and shoving into outright violence.

The mayor ended up being admitted to the hospital for serious injuries to the head and neck, and Lundy required treatment from paramedics who arrived on the scene shortly after police were called to intervene in the incident. Representatives for both men say that they intend to press charges against the other. The mayor’s office released a brief statement telling reporters that he was awaiting results from a CT scan and an MRI.

The fight occurred during the course of a regular meeting of Birmingham’s city council, but only after both men had stepped briefly from the room. Witnesses, who were few, are not clear on what triggered the altercation.

Council president Johnathan Austin released a statement during the afternoon, and though he did not definitively take sides, seemed to allude to problems between Mayor Bell and councilors, which he characterized as a “lack of respect.”

It’s a sad day when council members are attacked while trying to do the job that they were elected to do,” Austin said in his statement.

Both Bell and Lundy have said through their offices that they intend to take legal action against the other.

Related Thursday Review articles:

Roby: Clinton Answers Not Satisfactory; R. Alan Clanton; Thursday Review; October 26, 2015.

VA Accountability in Central Alabama; Earl Perkins; Thursday Review; September 8, 2014.