"I have never seen a politician jump in and fight like that. It was scary and horrible. It is an embarrassment,"
Thornton Township was prepared to get back to business Tuesday night, but a large fight broke out after an activist called Supervisor Tiffany Henyard an expletive.
The insult sparked a fight in the back of the room, with punches thrown, people jumping on tables and television monitors smashed.
Henyard and her boyfriend Kamal Woods were in the middle of the melee, according to NBC Chicago reporter Regina Waldroup.
Shocked eyewitnesses described the scene as an "embarrassment" in what was supposed to be a normal meeting of the Thornton Township board.
"I have never seen a politician jump in and fight like that - it was scary and horrible- It is an embarrassment," said Meghan Dudek.
"It should have never come to blows, and Tiffany should have never got involved," said Gerald Williams
It is unclear if anyone was arrested or taken into custody.
Earlier in the evening, the room erupted with applause when the board came back from closed session, with the announcement that Woods, who runs the township's at-risk youth program, and William Moore another employee, would both put on paid administrative leave immediately.
The board also approved an independent investigator or a forensic auditor to look into the use of certain grant money and possible township funds related to the at-risk youth program and the outreach department .
Henyard called the moves political retaliation, and has threatened legal action.