By Theodore Brown–
Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts Jr. has categorically denied an allegation that he inappropriately touched a high school student during a city-sponsored voter-registration event, accusing political opponents of spreading a “baseless” and politically motivated claim as pressure mounts for him to resign.
Butts broke his silence Monday at a news conference outside Inglewood City Hall, where he appeared alongside local and regional officials and supporters.
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The embarrassed mayor described the accusations as “baseless, unsourced and completely false” and said his attorneys were sending cease-and-desist letters to people he accused of spreading defamatory claims about him.
After his monologue to the press, journalists were stunned when he left the room, refusing to take any questions on such a serious matter.
One question The Eye Of Media wanted to ask the beleaguered Mayor is why he was seen attending the address of the teenager’s family last night. But he was gone in a flash, declining any questions even before they were asked.
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The controversy centres on an event known as “Votechella”, a city voter-engagement initiative involving local officials and high school students.
The allegation emerged publicly after Leonard Redway, an Inglewood commissioner and candidate for City Council District 1, posted a social-media video on September 16 claiming that Butts had inappropriately touched a teenage girl while posing for a photograph at the event.
Redway said he had spoken with the girl’s father and that the father wanted to speak directly with the mayor. Redway subsequently deleted his original video and said he did not want to remain at the centre of the controversy, explaining that he had become involved because a parent wanted someone to listen to concerns about what had allegedly happened to his daughter.
The girl’s family has not publicly described what happened. According to the Los Angeles Times, three separate individuals said they witnessed the allegation, although a representative for the family said they had been advised by legal counsel not to discuss the incident publicly and to allow an investigation to proceed, although the representative did not identify who was conducting that investigation.
That absence of a public account from the teenager or her family has left the circumstances surrounding the alleged contact unresolved.
But the allegation has not been based solely on anonymous social-media commentary. A woman identified as Akia Jackson has provided a signed statement to EURweb saying she personally witnessed the interaction.
Jackson said she saw Butts put his arm around the student during the photograph and described his hand as moving down the girl’s back before stopping near the upper edge of her buttocks. She said the student then moved away from him.
Jackson’s account remains an allegation and has not independently established what happened. The student’s own account has not been made public, and the available evidence has not produced a definitive finding concerning the mayor’s conduct.
Butts’ office, meanwhile, has taken the opposite position, saying there was no sexual touching, groping, assault or other inappropriate conduct.
His representatives have characterised the incident as an ordinary group photograph that has subsequently been turned into political ammunition during an election campaign.
A photograph released amid the controversy shows Butts posing with a group of Inglewood High School cheerleaders, with one of his hands visible on a girl’s shoulder. The photograph does not, by itself, establish what happened immediately before or after the moment it captured.
The dispute has consequently become a clash between competing accounts, with questions remaining over what other photographs or video may exist, who witnessed the interaction and whether any independent investigation has been undertaken.
Calls for Butts to resign
The controversy has rapidly developed into a political crisis for the longtime mayor, who is seeking reelection in November. Several candidates and community activists have publicly demanded that he step aside.
Yolanda Davidson, a candidate for Inglewood City Council District 1, held a September 17 news conference with mayoral candidate Fre’Drisha “Sha” Dixon and activists including Najee Ali and Earl Ofari Hutchinson. They called for Butts’ resignation and an independent investigation.
Dixon said the allegations could not simply be dismissed because the event was intended to involve young people in civic participation. Activists have argued that any allegation involving a minor deserves an independent examination rather than being settled through competing political statements.
Butts’ supporters have urged a different approach. California Assembly member Tina McKinnor appeared alongside the mayor at Monday’s news conference and warned against allowing social media to determine guilt or innocence.
McKinnor said serious allegations should be investigated by appropriate independent authorities and that, where evidence or first-hand witnesses exist, they should provide their information to those authorities rather than allowing social-media accusations to substitute for an investigation.
That position reflects the central unresolved issue in the controversy: what evidence exists beyond competing claims, and who is independently examining it?The timing is particularly significant. Butts has been Inglewood’s mayor for more than a decade and is campaigning for another term at a moment when the city is already embroiled in major political and economic disputes.
His administration has overseen Inglewood’s transformation into a major entertainment destination, including the development of SoFi Stadium and the Intuit Dome. Butts has also faced political opposition over the direction of the city and its relationships with major development and entertainment interests.
The mayor argues that the latest allegations are part of a broader effort by political opponents to damage him during the election campaign.
At Monday’s news conference, Butts went beyond denying the specific allegation and accused his critics of exploiting racialized stereotypes about Black men. He also connected the controversy to wider political battles over Inglewood’s future. Those claims are Butts’ characterisation of the dispute; they do not, on their own, establish why the allegation was made.
Several of the people publicly challenging him are themselves politically active. Davidson and Redway are candidates for City Council District 1, while Dixon is running for mayor. That political context is therefore an unavoidable part of the story — but it does not, by itself, establish whether the underlying allegation is true or false.
The current controversy has also revived scrutiny of previous allegations involving the mayor.
In 2019, former aide Melanie McDade-Dickens accused Butts of sexual harassment, abusive conduct and retaliation after their relationship ended. Butts denied wrongdoing. The subsequent litigation was dismissed, according to the Los Angeles Times.
That earlier dispute is separate from the current allegation and does not establish whether the present accusation is true. But critics of Butts have nevertheless cited his previous controversies as part of their argument that the latest claims should not be dismissed without investigation. Butts maintains that the present accusation is completely false.
What happens next?
The most important development may now be whether the competing claims lead to an independent investigation.
Activists have called for photographs, video, communications and other records from the Votechella event to be preserved and examined. The Los Angeles Times reported that Inglewood’s city attorney said his office had not received a complaint or referral concerning the incident at the time of Monday’s news conference.
The school district’s county administrator, James Morris, said educators have a responsibility to protect students and expressed confidence that those responsibilitvd vvies had been met, while declining to discuss whether the district was conducting an investigation.
Meanwhile, Ali and Hutchinson reportedly submitted a letter to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office requesting a criminal investigation.
The mayor has said his lawyers are pursuing cease-and-desist demands against people who have repeated the allegations. There are two very different stories competing for public attention. One is Butts’ account.
That’s a false accusation has been amplified by political opponents in the middle of an election and that there is no substantiated complaint against him.
The other is the account advanced by activists and a reported eyewitness: that a teenage student was touched inappropriately during a photograph and that the circumstances warrant an independent investigation. Neither account, standing alone, resolves the underlying question..
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