By AFRO Staff
Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick
(Photo: Google Images)
(August 15, 2008) - Following a bizarre sequence of events yesterday, embattled Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is scheduled to appear again in court today for a preliminary examination on assault charges. The hearing stems from an incident at the home of his sister where he allegedly shoved a deputy sheriff last month trying to serve a subpoena.
Yesterday, Kilpatrick and his former chief of staff Christine Beatty were in court for what many thought would be a routine arraignment on felony charges stemming from a text message scandal that has dogged the Kilpatrick administration for nearly seven months. Instead, Kilpatrick’s legal entanglement took some bizarre turns. For three hours, he was allowed to remove the electronic tether that has monitored his movements. He also was cleared to attend the Democratic National Convention in Denver. By the end of the day, those liberties were revoked.
Meanwhile, the Michigan Chronicle called on Kilpatrick to leave office.
In a front page editorial, the paper wrote, “Detroit, the nation’s largest African American electoral base, has reached a state of paralysis. It has come to a point where the mayor’s personal problems are overshadowing anything he has to say regarding the city. We have long resisted calls and other requests to urge Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick to resign because of his mountainous legal troubles.
“But no more. We cannot stand by and watch this city fall victim to the mistakes of the mayor. In the interest of saving Detroit from Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s legal and political issues that have hindered this city’s progress, we strongly urge the mayor to step aside and address his problems. His issues are holding the city hostage. Detroit’s future is bigger than the mayor.”