Two elected officials from Wichita engaged in a heated, aggressive confrontation Wednesday night, following policy disagreements between the two about a groundwater contamination site.
Video footage shows Kansas State Rep. Ford Carr, a Democrat, and City Council member Brandon Johnson yelling at each other about a disagreement over funds the state – and now city – have set aside for cancer screening of residents impacted by contamination at 29th and Grove.
City Council members and Sedgwick County commissioners visited Topeka on Wednesday for League of Kansas Municipalities City Hall Day. A reception took place between 4 and 5:30 at the Celtic Fox, the restaurant and pub where the incident took place.
A report from the Topeka Police Department showed officers responded to an altercation at 6 p.m. due to “two to three people arguing and shoving each other.” The report states that people were “arguing over politics, no one wished to press charges.”
In the video, Carr directed a racial slur at Johnson. Both men are Black.
Throughout the exchange, the two men cursed at each other and accused each other of lying.
Carr is also seen pushing fellow Democratic state representative Henry Helgerson out of the way when Helgerson tried to intervene in the squabble. Helgerson, who is 73, fell into a table.
“You already threw me off once. You don’t want to hurt me, do you?” Helgerson is seen on tape saying to Carr while trying to calm him down.
When contacted Thursday for comment, Carr wrote in a text that he was “in session.”
Johnson wrote in a text that he was “not going to speak about the incident in Topeka. … I don’t want that incident to in any way distract from the genuine, positive efforts and progress we’re making for residents to address the vitally needed testing and remediation at the 29th and Grove neighborhoods.”
The two elected officials have disagreed for months since the state set aside $2.5 million for testing in June. The state’s investment required Sedgwick County to sign on before the dollars could become available. It also asked for a local match of $1 million for some of the dollars to be unlocked.
Carr, as well as some other legislators and community members, protested the slow rollout of funds in October. The county signed onto an agreement with the state Wednesday, while the city voted to give $125,000 in matching funds on Tuesday.
In the video, Carr is heard telling Johnson, “It’s been six months.”
Johnson and Sedgwick County Commissioner Ryan Baty have previously said that the process took a long time because they were working to create a plan that could be effectively implemented over the long-term with one-time funding.
“You not doing no work. … You don’t give a damn about the people,” Johnson tells Carr in the video.
Baty, as well as City Council member Mike Hoheisel, are seen in the video attempting to quell the disturbance and keep Carr away from Johnson.
House Democrats have made no decisions regarding repercussions for Carr, according to an email from Nicole Norvell, communications director for the House Democratic Caucus.
But in a statement, House Minority Leader Brandon Woodard of Lenexa said he is “taking this matter seriously.”
The Sedgwick County Democratic Party had not yet responded to a request for comment.
