An Alabama councilman is facing calls to resign from his post after he used a racial slur during a council meeting on Monday.
Footage captured from the meeting shows Tarrant City Council member John “Tommy” Bryant standing from his seat and pointing at a black councilwoman while asking, “Do we have a house [N-word] in here? Would she please stand up?”
“Do we? Hey, do we? Would she please stand up?” Bryant repeated as multiple people in the meeting gasped. The councilwoman is later seen crying and sobbing before she steps away from her chair during the meeting.
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Bryant has come out in defense of the comment, saying he was only repeating language he claims was used by Tarrant Mayor Wayman Newton, the city’s first black mayor, who allegedly used the slur to refer to Councilwoman Veronica Freeman, who is also black, according to an interview with local outlet WVTM 13.
Tarrant, Alabama Councilman Tommy Bryant stunned the room at a City Council meeting when he referred to his Black colleague, Veronica Freeman, as a racial slur. pic.twitter.com/fEqTex6TxO
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) July 21, 2021
Bryant has vehemently dismissed the calls for resignations after Alabama Democrats drafted a statement calling for him to resign on July 20.
“Alabama still has a long way to go when it comes to race, but cozying up to the KKK and using the N-word should make you unfit to serve,” the party wrote in its statement. “These racists belong in the history books with Bull Connor and George Wallace, not on the taxpayer’s payroll.”
Bryant defended his comments during a Tuesday interview, saying there was a difference between his use of the slur and the way Newton allegedly used it. “The mayor was being derogatory toward Veronica Freeman when he said that,” the councilman said.
Newton has denied using the phrase “house [N-word]” about Freeman, saying, “I never used that phrase to speak about her,” and he accused Bryant of wanting to run for mayor.
“They are trying to expose me for saying something I did not say,” the mayor said. “All of that was a political stunt that they did not do very well.”
“[Councilwoman] Veronica and Tommy, they’ve basically been working against me since I got in office,” Newton said Wednesday, noting he was threatened with a lawsuit last week via “a letter saying Veronica was going to sue me for racial discrimination.”
On Tuesday, Bryant pushed further against the mayor, saying, “The city ought to know the type of terminology the mayor uses … If I had let it go and sugar-coated it, we would not be having this conversation right now.”
The Alabama Republican Party issued a statement on Wednesday condemning Bryant’s “outburst,” according to a copy obtained by the Washington Examiner.
“We are proud to have Mayor Wayman Newton as a member of the Jefferson County Republican Party and deeply appreciate his commitment to serving his constituents honorably, even in the face of adversity,” the GOP statement said. “The comments made at the Tarrant city council meeting have no place in government leadership, and if they reflect the opinion of Tommy Bryant he should immediately step down.”
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The Washington Examiner contacted Newton and the Tarrant City Office but did not immediately receive a response.
