Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot berated lawyers and blocked an Italian-American group from exhibiting a Christopher Columbus statue in a parade, according to a new lawsuit filed this week.
According to the Chicago Tribune, former Chicago Park District deputy general counsel George Smyrniotis filed a lawsuit against Chicago and Lightfoot after the mayor removed Christopher Columbus statues from the city.
Smyrniotis alleges he was told by Timothy King, a top lawyer for the Chicago Park District, and then-superintendent Michael Kelly, that they wanted the lawsuit over the Christopher Columbus statues settled quickly.
As part of the negotiations, Timothy King approved the Italian-American group’s request to exhibit their Christopher Columbus statue in the annual parade.
When Lightfoot found out about the negotiations over the Columbus statue, she threatened to pull the permit for the parade and demanded Park District officials join a last minute Zoom meeting, the Tribune reported.
This is when Lightfoot became unhinged, berated top government lawyers and argued she has the biggest dick in Chicago.
“You make some kind of secret agreement with Italians. … You are out there stroking your dick over the Columbus statue, I am trying to keep Chicago police officers from being shot and you are trying to get them shot,” Lightfoot said, according to the complaint. “My dick is bigger than yours and the Italians, I have the biggest dick in Chicago.”
The Chicago Tribune reported:
Mayor Lori Lightfoot blocked a deal the Chicago Park District made with an Italian American group to allow a Christopher Columbus statue to be displayed in a parade and made obscene remarks aimed at government lawyers during a contentious meeting, a high-ranking lawyer alleged in a lawsuit filed Tuesday.
The lawsuit, filed by former Chicago Park District deputy general counsel George Smyrniotis against the city and Lightfoot, is closely related to another case brought by the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans against the Park District after Lightfoot removed Columbus statues from the city.
[…]
At the meeting, Smyrniotis alleges, Lightfoot “proceeded to berate and defame” the lawyers and asked them, “Where did you go to law school? Did you even go to law school? Do you even have a law license?”
Lightfoot told them that they had to submit their pleadings to a city lawyer for approval and were told “not to do a f—— thing with that statue without my approval.”
“Get that f—— statue back before noon tomorrow or I am going to have you fired,” Lightfoot said, according to the complaint.
Lightfoot also made obscene comments to Smyrniotis and King, according to the lawsuit, which alleges she called them “d—-” and asked, “What the f— were you thinking?”
“You make some kind of secret agreement with Italians. … You are out there stroking your d—- over the Columbus statue, I am trying to keep Chicago police officers from being shot and you are trying to get them shot,” Lightfoot said, according to the complaint. “My d— is bigger than yours and the Italians, I have the biggest d— in Chicago.”
Smyrniotis asserts the alleged comments defamed him by imputing that he lacked the ability to perform his job duties. He resigned from the Park District last month, according to the lawsuit. King has also since left the Park District.
In response to a request for a statement, a Law Department spokeswoman said, “The city has not yet been served with a complaint and will have no further comment as the matter is now in litigation.”
