Inglewood mayor pressured to resign after allegedly grabbing teen cheerleader’s butt

Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts is accused of grabbing a teen cheerleader’s butt during a community event photo op on Tuesday — and his sickened residents are demanding he step down.

Community members are pushing the 73-year-old, who has served the city as mayor since 2011, to resign immediately.

“You need to go today. This is nothing new here in the city of Inglewood,” activist and Inglewood resident Yolanda Davidson said at a news conference. “The residents of Inglewood, myself included, and the people who could not be here today, are calling for his resignation, effective today.”

Inglewood Commissioner Leonard Redway attended the event but told Fox 11 he did not see the alleged conduct. Redway acknowledged he witnessed a commotion and saw a girl become visibly upset.

He later shot cell phone video of Butts showing up in a neighborhood around 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday to speak with people apparently related to the incident.

“Why would you show up at someone’s house at 10:30 at night if nothing happened,” he said. 

“Come to find out there’s all kinds of people working behind the scenes to cover this [expletive] up,” he added.

Butts’ office told KNX News that the allegation is “categorically false” and provided the outlet with a photo from the alleged meeting.

“Members of the Inglewood High School cheerleading squad asked Mayor Butts to take a group photograph with them,” the statement said. “Mayor Butts joined the group at the far edge for the picture. His outside hand rested on the outside shoulder of the cheerleader immediately in front of him, while his other hand, which was holding two items, was behind the group.”

“There was no sexual touching, groping, assault, or other inappropriate conduct of any kind.”

The statement says there was no misconduct alleged at the time. A picture allegedly released from the mayor’s office to KNX News shows Butts smiling in a red sweatshirt standing behind the cheerleading squad. His right hand is on a cheerleader’s shoulder while his left hand is out of view.

The mayor’s office also accused the mayor’s opponents of using the alleged incident as “political ammunition,” as Butts seeks his fifth term as mayor.

Detractors don’t want him back in office.

“Sexual allegations cannot be underplayed. They’re serious,” activist Earl Ofari Hutchinson said.

“The fact is, we do believe Mayor Butts sexually groped a young minor,” activist Najee Ali added.

The victim of the alleged groping has not filed a police report as her family seeks to protect her identity, Fox 11 reported.

The California Post reached out to Butts’ campaign for comment.

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