William J. Kelly is a journalist in Chicago, and he has filed a federal lawsuit against Mayor Lori Lightfoot and the Chicago Police Department Superintendent David Brown. The lawsuit comes after Kelly’s press credentials were revoked.
Kelly alleged Lightfoot and Brown violated his First Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment rights. He said:
“They have done this for the most cynical and contemptible reason that can be imagined, to prevent Lightfoot from being questioned about their failures in the performance of the public offices they currently occupy.”
The lawsuit states:
“Lightfoot desperately wants to prevent anyone from questioning her about her multiple failures in office or about the false statements she makes, at press conferences because she is standing for re-election and wants to keep her dismal performance as mayor of Chicago from being publically [sic] exposed and criticized.”
“Because Kelly in his role as a reporter and journalist has caused great embarrassment for Lightfoot by asking the hard and embarrassing questions about her obvious failure as mayor, and because this has and would continue to hurt her chances of being reelected, Lightfoot has directed Brown to revoke Kelly’s City of Chicago press credentials which prevents Kelly from attending any more of her press conferences.”
Kelly said that due Lightfoot’s instruction, Brown:
“Directed a police officer assigned to Lightfoot’s seventy officer strong security force to fabricate a report that Kelly had bumped into him on July 19, 2022. Brown then used this false report as a pretext to revoke Kelly’s press credentials on August 8, 2022. In fact the entire episode where this bump was falsely alleged to have taken place was videotaped by Kelly and this video shows no such bump took place.”
The lawsuit states the fact that:
“This is blatantly unconstitutional. A public official may not target particular news media organizations or journalists for exclusion from access made generally available to other media. The First Amendment guarantees the freedoms of speech and of the press, and those rights are incorporated against the states. The Fourteenth Amendment also guarantees citizens due process and equal protection of the laws. including equal treatment by their government, and due process, which requires fair notice and consideration before the government may revoke access.”
A previous recording shows him following Lightfoot after she dodged his question at a press conference. Her personnel physically blocked him. Footage shared by The Daily Caller showed the journalist shouting “Don’t touch me” to Lightfoot’s personnel. The personnel denied touching Kelly. This encounter took place on July 19.
On August 8, Brown informed Kelly that his press credentials were revoked “as a result of actions which occurred on July 19, 2022.” Kelly mentioned that the encounter occurred one day after he pressed Lightfoot about her “taxpayer-funded business trip” to Paris “with your donors” while crime continues to run rampant in Chicago.
Kelly asked Lightfoot in April:
“How you could possibly even consider running for reelection as mayor of the city of Chicago after all the harm you’ve caused?”
The lawsuit also states:
“On information and belief when Lightfoot left the April 20, 2022 press conference and got into her car she had a complete melt-down, screaming, yelling and kicking with rage at Kelly. The April 20, 2022 press conference constituted the point after which Lightfoot exhibited an unhinged hatred of Kelly.”
Kelly concluded his interview with Fox News Digital, saying:
“I’ve covered other Chicago mayors including Mayor Rahm Emanuel. None of them liked my questions either … But Mayor Lightfoot doesn’t think she should be answerable to anyone – certainly not me or to the people of Chicago. If a powerful politician like Mayor Lightfoot can just ‘cancel’ the First Amendment or a reporter like me whenever she wants, then we are truly lost as a nation.”
If Lightfoot is unaware, in America, we have the First Amendment, which guarantees press freedom. The freedom of the press is protected by the First Amendment, whether Lightfoot likes it or not. But the fact that she can’t take some tough questions, and only responds to softball questions, speaks volumes about the disservice she is doing to the residents of Chicago.
Here is a clip of Kelly from 2019 speaking about the Jussie Smollett hoax:
Fox guest William Kelly suggests that the Democratic Party is behind Jussie Smollett's claim of assault: "The Chicago Police Department may have exposed the Democrat hate crime industrial complex." pic.twitter.com/mHT9AAA5mW
— Bobby Lewis (@revrrlewis) February 21, 2019
