A Louisiana mayor is under fire for launching into an altercation with a local resident at a council meeting.
Video shows Elton Mayor Kesia Lemoine locking heads with an unidentified woman who she later argued with her inside a meeting room.
The footage show Lemoine walking out of the room while yelling at the woman before being held back by other citizens.
Footage then shows the woman screaming at Lemoine, saying: ‘Keep your f****** hands off of me.’
She is also heard saying that she wants to press charges on Lemoine in the video while a group of people try to keep the pair apart.
Eventually, a police officer escorts the woman out of city hall while she continues to yell at Lemoine.
Elton Mayor Kesia Lemoine is seen getting into a fight with an unidentified woman after arguing with her inside the meeting room on video
Footage shows the other woman screaming at Lemoine and saying: ‘Keep your f****** hands off of me!’
Later, Lemoine allegedly hit a cellphone being used to record the incident out of the hands of onlooker Heidi Newell. According to the Jeff Davis Parish Sheriff’s Office, Lemoine has been cited for battery.
Newell described the incident as ‘utter chaos’.
‘I was videoing like we normally do because of situations and she basically turned around, hit me in the chest and knocked my phone out of my hand,’ Newell said.
Newell, a former town employee, said Lemoine unexpectedly fired her from her job but she continues attending council meetings. She also said the mayor mostly addresses questions or concerns with hostility.
‘It’s time that somebody that is going to do right by the town and be honest about every situation and not go behind people’s back to be in office now,’ Newell said.
She is also heard saying that she wants to press charges on Lemoine in the video while a group of people try to keep the pair apart
Eventually, a police officer escorts the woman out of city hall while she continues to yell at Lemoine
Lemoine hit Heidi Newell’s cell phone out of her hand while she was recording the video of the argument. According to the Jeff Davis Parish Sheriff’s Office, she has been cited for battery
According to KPLC, the meeting began with the goal to discuss this month’s budget.
The atmosphere became tense when the meeting moved to the topic of grants.
During the discussion Lemoine was asked if Carl Capone, identified as a grant writer, should be asked about available funding.
A woman, presumably the one seen arguing in the video with Lemoine, then asked if Capone was fired from the grant writer job.
Mayor Lemoine was heard replying: ‘We’re talking about the budget, you way off on something else. We are on the budget. You out of order. You say something else, we’re gonna escort you out. We’re talking about the budget.’
The council asked if anyone knew if Capone was fired. Ultimately, Lemoine tells the room that Capone left the department because two people ‘lied to him’.
The mayor then asks the woman who inquired about Capone’s firing about her motives for attending the meeting.
Somehow, the council’s focus reportedly shifts to Lemoine’s salary to which she calls out council members for being ‘worried’ about how she gets paid. After arguments escalate, Lemoine is heard saying: ‘You wanna talk about transparency? Let’s talk here first!’
The atmosphere became tense when the meeting moved to the topic of grants. Lemoine began discussing the two grants when a councilwoman asked if Carl Capone, identified as a grant writer, should be asked about the available grants
Lemoine told News 10 in the aftermath the video did not show one of the people present in the room who threatened her and her family.
‘Just recently we had a council meeting and they edited the clip and just showed my actions,’ said Lemoine. ‘They did not show the beginning.’
She said she was acting on maternal instinct and a need to protect her family.
‘As a mother, I’m a protector and that really made me come out of character,’ Lemoine explained.
She also told the channel she wanted to acknowledge that she’s not proud of what happened and it should not have gone that far.
‘I do apologize for my actions because I am the mayor and they hold me to a different standard. But also I am human and I do have feelings,’ said Lemoine.
The incident comes as the mayor’s son, Marcus Lemoine Jr., was arrested over the assault of a man, Roderick Williams, at an Elton carwash in June 2023.
But it seems acting with hostility is in the family as her son, Marcus Lemoine Jr. approached and assaulted a man named Roderick Williams at an Elton carwash in June 2023
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During the trial, he entered a plea of ‘no contest’ a few weeks ago in a Jeff Davis Parish court which was a switch from his ‘not guilty’ plea he made in September
The Jeff Davis Clerk of Court’s office confirmed that Marcus was sentenced to six months of supervised probation along with a fine of $500 plus court costs
Lemoine Jr. was arrested by the Jeff Davis Parish Sheriff’s Office after Williams filed a report.
During the trial, he entered a plea of ‘no contest’ a few weeks ago in a Jeff Davis Parish court which was a switch from his ‘not guilty’ plea he made in September.
The Jeff Davis Clerk of Court’s office confirmed that Lemoine Jr. was sentenced to six months of supervised probation along with a fine of $500 plus court costs.
The mayor did not clarify if Williams was the same man who threatened her during the council meeting.
A petition was launched earlier this year to strip the mayor from of her title.
An investigation found voters claiming homestead exemptions in other parishes, some registered to vote using vacant lots and others using addresses of homes that didn’t exist to participate in the election
Brandon Kelley, who faced Lemoine in a mayoral runoff election last year, told the American Press that a group of residents is seeking to remove her from office after instances of possible corruption in the last mayoral election came to light.
An investigation by KPLC-TV found voters claiming homestead exemptions in other parishes, some registered to vote using vacant lots and others using addresses of homes that didn’t exist to participate in the election.
The investigation found nearly three dozen people with questionable voting credentials and named Roderick Williams as the first whistleblower in the case. The petition was later rejected.
Williams believes Lemoine Jr. attacked him because of his role in revealing the corruption in the area and the subsequent petition to remove his mother from office.
After the video of the mayor’s altercation with the unidentified woman went viral, a new petition has been launched to recall her from her position.