Carpenter, who is gay, confronted McGee after the alderman accused Barrett of
not pushing for charges against off-duty police officers suspected of severely
beating Frank Jude
Jr. McGee cited other instances in which he said the mayor had disrespected
African-Americans.
McGee has called for a one-day boycott of the Shops at
Grand Avenue and white-owned stores at the Midtown Center to pressure the
district attorney's office to charge the officers in the Jude beating.
After
McGee finished his remarks, Carpenter took him to task for refusing to apologize
to members of the city's gay and lesbian community for McGee's use of the slur
"faggot" this month when describing police officers allegedly involved in the
Jude beating.
Carpenter shouted: "Why are you disrespectful? Why don't you
return phone calls? When will you apologize for using the term faggot when
referring to police officers? You're an embarrassment."
I liked that last line, the one about being an embarassment. Remember the flap with Carpenter and Gwen Moore two years ago on the assembly floor? Yeah, you're a real Jefferson Smith, Tim.