RAW: MO: PROTESTER HANDCUFFED AT ROYALS STADIUM MEETING
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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KMBC) — Tensions boiled over at the Kansas City Finance Committee Meeting Tuesday as the public met with city officials to discuss public financing of the new Kansas City Royals downtown ballpark.
Members of the public were each given two minutes to speak while the committee discussed an ordinance that, if passed, would authorize the City Manager to execute a lease, non-relocation agreement, community impact partnership agreement, and funding agreement with the Kansas City Royals for the proposed stadium near Crown Center.
During the meeting, individuals with the group Stand Up KC, part of Missouri Workers Power, were seen standing in the committee room in protest of the public financing portion of the agreement.
Video shows one individual in a red shirt shout comments about justice during the meeting. When security intervened and attempted to escort the individual out of the room, a struggle ensued.
That struggle continued into the hallway outside of the city council chamber. KMBC 9 News Reporter Krista Tatschl watched as the individual was wrestled to the ground and placed into handcuffs.
Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Quinton Lucas exited the chambers during the struggle. Krista Tatschl caught up with him in the hallway. He told KMBC 9 News that he hoped public comment could continue and that cooler heads could prevail.
This is not the first time tempers have flared at a meeting discussing the new Kansas City Royals stadium. A meeting in July ended early after repeated disruptions.
Less than an hour later, the measure passed out of committee unanimously and will head to the full City Council on September 3.
Missouri Workers Power issued a statement shortly after the passage identifying the individual as Darrell Miller, who works at the stadium but not employed by the Royals.
“Security pinned him to the ground and handcuffed him as he told them he could not breathe. The Council continued its fast-track of an ordinance authorizing the City Manager to execute a lease, funding, and development agreement for a stadium at Crown Center,” a spokesperson said in the statement.
“Miller came to the hearing today, along with other Missouri Workers Power members, to speak against a deal that would commit $600 million in public money to a billionaire’s stadium while Kansas City cuts transit, schools, and housing. Instead of being heard, he was taken into custody.
“Missouri Workers Power condemns the council’s decision to move forward with public financing for the project without a public vote. When you add state incentives, the total public cost of this stadium could exceed $1.5 billion over 30 years while Kansas City faces a $100 million budget shortfall, underfunded schools, a transit system in crisis, and a housing shortage working families can’t afford.”
The group said the passage of today’s ordinance “ignores the more than 4,500 Kansas Citians who signed a citizens’ initiative petition demanding a public vote,” adding that Miller was one of the individuals who signed that petition.
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