Earlier this week, the unthinkable happened during a public, live-streamed city council meeting in Tarrant, Alabama, which sits on the northern border of Birmingham. John “Tommy” Bryant, one of the Tarrant City Council members, had an outburst during the meeting and called Black councilwoman Veronica Freeman the n-word, and the entire incident was caught on camera.
“Do we have a house n***er in here? Do we? Do we? Would she please stand up?” Bryant stands up and yells mid-meeting.
Freeman was so hurt by the councilman’s words that she reportedly left the meeting in tears. Watch the unbelievable video for yourself down below.
Following the incident, it was clear that the people in attendance for the meeting were disgusted by Bryant’s display of racism, with one person audibly exclaiming, “What the f*ck,” and the person at the podium telling Bryant, “Yeah, you.” In light of the situation, the Alabama Democrats have formally come forward to condemn John Bryant’s actions and call for his immediate resignation.
“Alabama still has a long way to go when it comes to race, but cozying up to the KKK and using the N word should make you unfit to serve,” Wade F. Perry, the Executive Director of the Alabama Democrats said in the statement. “These racists belong in the history books with Bull Connor and George Wallace, not on the taxpayer’s payroll.”
According to Complex, Bryant has since claimed he was only repeating what Tarrant Mayor Wayman Newton, the city’s first Black mayor, had allegedly called Freeman during a previous private meeting. “I did what needed to be done. It needed to be brought to light what kind of a person the mayor is,” Byrant explained unapologetically.
Are you surprised by the Alabama councilman’s use of the racial epithet during the city council meeting? Do you think he should be forced to resign?
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