A Colorado councilwoman is under fire after a jaw-dropping video of her chaotic clash with a community member sparked outrage from locals.
Liberal Loveland councilmember Erin Black had arranged to meet city resident Dillion Kaiser in a park to discuss their conflicting political stances.
The two have a track record of fighting online – and that animosity was apparent during the in-person exchange.
But when Black showed up on Saturday, she was not alone. She was accompanied by at least eight other people and a dog, the shocking footage captured by Kaiser revealed.
At the start of the nearly 13-minute dispute, Black’s husband Alan Kujawa, seen wearing a Pink Floyd tee-shirt, approached Kaiser demanding to know who he was.
‘Are you Dylan?’ he repeated several times as he grew closer, the rest of the group trailing closely behind.
The situation quickly escalated – with the group screaming obscenities and one of the woman even hitting Kaiser.
Pointing her umbrella in Kaiser’s face, Black, wearing a purple shawl, accused him of posting women’s addresses online and harassing them.
Liberal Loveland councilmember Erin Black is under fire after a jaw-dropping video of her chaotic clash with a community member sparked outrage from locals.
Black showed up on Saturday with at least eight other people and a dog to meet the Loveland resident
She shouted: ‘And you know what? This is the city of Loveland, this ain’t your MAGA bulls**t in DC, this is Loveland!’
As everyone continued arguing over one another, the councilwoman started walking towards Kaiser, urging him to ‘say everything you be saying online’ to her face.
Kaiser then asked if anything he was posting online was illegal and told them to ‘prove it’ and ‘call the cops’ if that was the case.
‘I don’t trust the cops! And you know that,’ Black shot back while seemingly tapping Kaiser’s phone with her umbrella.
Community member Lynn Reynolds St John, who was a part of Black’s squad and was recording as well, appeared to have struck Kaiser during the hectic ordeal. She said she was not trying hit him, she wanted to remove his face mask.
As shown at the end of the video, Kaiser walked to a police officer conducting traffic stops and told him about the situation.
‘I’m really scared as sh*t right now, there’s a whole bunch of them threatening me,’ he said to the cop.
The Larimer County Sheriff’s Office told DailyMail.com the incident is under active investigation.
‘Since the incident involved a Loveland City Councilor, the Loveland Police Department requested that the Sheriff’s Office investigate in order to avoid any conflict of interest,’ the spokesperson wrote.
After Kaiser shared the unflattering footage on a Loveland community Facebook page, residents slammed Black for not maintaining her composure.
Dillion Kaiser filmed the altercation, claiming that his online activity does not warrant this kind of reaction from the local official
Community member Lynn Reynolds St John, who was a part of Black’s clan and was recording as well, appeared to have struck Kaiser during the hectic ordeal
One woman wrote: ‘An elected official doing this is not okay! You don’t ask to meet with a citizen and then show up with a bunch of people to harass and threaten the person. WOW!’
‘Really despicable behavior by our city leaders, this has got to stop,’ a Loveland resident asserted.
Others thought everyone involved was wrong, including Kaiser.
‘Everyone in this is an idiot including the one behind the camera. None of you have anything better to do?’ one man wrote.
The Loveland City Council has passed a motion during their Tuesday meeting, requesting that Black resigns from her position.
‘This behavior is unacceptable for any elected official. As council members, we are expected to lead with integrity, discipline and respect,’ Councilman Patrick McFall said, according to Fox 31.
‘What happened was a failure of leadership.’
If Black does not step down, another motion was passed to make her attend all council meetings virtually until the investigation is complete.
Outside the tense council meeting after the video was shared, dozens rallied against Black, holding signs that dubbed the politician ‘unhinged’
At the start of the nearly 13-minute dispute, Black’s husband Alan Kujawa approached Kaiser demanding to know who he was as the others trailed closely behind
Attending the meeting virtually, Black reiterated her claim that Kaiser was going after women online.
‘Some people may find my actions as offensive. I find targeting, harassing and stalking of women to be offensive. My hope is that the city will follow up with the many complaints made against Dillion Kaiser,’ she said.
Outside the tense meeting, dozens rallied against Black, holding signs that dubbed the politician ‘unhinged.’
Kaiser was among the passionate crowd and retold his side of the story.
‘I looked at that as an opportunity to sit down with the councilor,’ Kaiser told Fox 31.
He acknowledged that he knows he can come across strong online, but maintained the councilwoman’s behavior was inappropriate regardless.
‘I knew there was going to be some resistance there, and I really was hoping that we could get through that resistance and have a civil conversation, but from the get-go, it didn’t go well. No sitting councilor should act like that ever,’ he told the outlet.
He elaborated on his perspective, telling DailyMail.com on Wednesday: ‘I feel like she could have handled it differently, there’s things I definitely could have handled differently as well.’
Reynolds St John told DailyMail.com she has been receiving threatening phone calls and online threats since the incident.
‘I am scared for my safety, now, as the court of public opinion has been devastating,’ she wrote.
Local online publication The Loveland Voice addressed the situation in a post. The Voice is run by Jessica Schneider, who was also at the confrontation.
If Black does not step down, another motion was passed to make her attend all council meetings virtually until the investigation is complete
The two have a track record of fighting online – and that animosity was apparent during the in-person exchange
The statement claimed Kaiser had a knife ‘visibly displayed’ with his face covered and accused him of online ‘doxxing.’
Kaiser told DailyMail.com he did have a pocket knife on him, but he never reached for it and carries it everyday.
Addressing his face being covered, he explained he was ‘protecting himself’ from being posted online by Black’s group, who he anticipated would also be recording.
DailyMail.com has reached out to Black and Reynolds St John for comment.