Alabama councilman arrested after hitting a Black mayor on racist dispute

By Edward Era Barbacena

An Alabama city councilman was arrested for punching his city's mayor after a meeting.

Tommy Bryant was charged with third-degree assault after striking mayor Wayman Newton in the parking lot of Tarrant city hall in a Monday night incident witnessed by multiple people, including the police chief, reported TMZ.

Witnesses say Bryant used racial slurs during the incident, which came after he challenged the mayor, who is Black, to step down during a heated exchange during the City Council meeting.

Bryant has been accused of racism in the past, including an incident last year when he called another city council member a "house n*gger" during a public meeting.

He was booked into the Jefferson County jail on $1,000 on a harassment charge that was later upgraded to assault.