WARREN, Mich. – Warren residents sounded off on Mayor Jim Fouts at a City Council meeting Tuesday night after an alleged recording of him insulting people with special needs.
About 100 people came to the meeting to vent their frustrations. Some people were in tears over a secret recording that has been attributed to Fouts.
The angry residents are calling on the City Council members to do something about it.
"His latest comments are close to satanic," one resident said.
People lined up to tell the Council members exactly how they felt about a secret recording made by a former city employee who said the voice on the recording belongs to Fouts.
The recording lasts about seven minutes, but for many in the crowd Tuesday, including parents of children with special needs, it won't be forgotten.
"She does not belong in a cage," Chuck Runyon said of his daughter with special needs. "I'm enraged by this type of nonsense. I can't even speak."
READ: Fouts fired from radio station job
"I would rather have my son that (knows how to say) two words and (give me) a hug around my neck than (be) the mother of Mayor Fouts," Brenda Kerr said.
Jackie Marvin's two nieces have special needs. They were invited to Warren's tree-lighting ceremony in 2014 and stood with the mayor.
"I heard the mayor and instantly, I thought, 'Did he make fun of her?'" Marvin said.
In a social media post, Fouts denied the voice is his. While the vast majority of the crowd at Tuesday's meeting was furious over the tape, he did have one supporter who suggested the tape is a conspiracy by Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel.
Sign up for ClickOnDetroit breaking news alerts and email newsletters