Rocky Mount mayor broke gavel in Monday’s council meeting chaos
By Lance Wilhelm, WRAL reporter
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ROCKY MOUNT, North Carolina (WRAL) — A woman was escorted out of Rocky Mount’s City Hall on Monday night after the mayor’s gavel shattered while trying to regain control of the city council meeting.
Theresa Alston Stokes was speaking to the city council when someone from the audience interrupted her.
Stokes, who serves on the Rocky Mount Planning Board, turned around and said, “I’m speaking, and I demand respect.”
Mayor Sandy Roberson tried to quiet the audience and broke his gavel in the process. Teresa was not allowed to finish her statements before she was escorted out of the building by police.
Before Stokes was removed, Bruce Jackson, who has lived in Rocky Mount for nine years, spoke in front of the council and called the recent leadership ’embarrassing.’
Amid months of ongoing financial struggles, two council members had a physical fight at a meeting in May, and just last week, Councilman TJ Walker was arrested, accused of bringing a gun onto North Carolina Central University’s campus.
“Between financial mismanagement, council members fighting, and utility bill debacles, it’s like a volcano,” Jackson said.
Jackson called for the resignation of Walker, stating that residents need to be able to trust their council members. Walker was at the council meeting after posting a $10,000 bond.
“I can see where people are saying, ‘Where are the adults?'” Jackson said. He continued, “Come on guys. Everybody put your big boy pants on and do what you’re supposed to do…it’s getting laughable and it’s getting embarrassing.”
Mayor Roberson said that it is his job to run a business meeting.
“I am a less-than-perfect individual; when I hit the gavel, it was not to silence people,” he said. “Sometimes it is to conduct traffic, sometimes it is to quiet the audience to allow the speakers to speak. I cannot have constant and consistent disruptions. If anyone took offense, it is not directed at any one person.”
Another council member disputed the statement and asked him directly, “Would you have done that to a white woman?”
Mayor Roberson called a recess to the meeting.
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