[THEME MUSIC]
WILLIAM J. KELLY: You shut down our schools.
You shut down the churches.
You shut down the businesses.
You did the one thing that I thought could never happen.
As somebody who was born and raised
on the South Side of Chicago, I never thought in my life
that I would ever see the city of Chicago brought down so low.
I hope that after today's City Council meeting,
you will pack your suitcase and get the hell out of my city.
STEVE DOOCY: Get the hell out of my city.
That Native Chicago reporter ripping into Lori Lightfoot's
failed leadership as mayor as she
proceeds over one of her last City Council meetings as mayor.
That reporter, William J. Kelly, sued
Mayor Lightfoot last year over her treatment of the press.
He joins us right now.
William, good morning to you.
WILLIAM J. KELLY: Thank you, Steve.
You've been with us every step of the way here.
Thank you for having me.
STEVE DOOCY: Well, absolutely.
What's interesting is, you came to our attention
because she pulled your press credentials because she did
not like your hard questions.
So how did you wind up in front of her for three minutes
yesterday?
WILLIAM J. KELLY: Well, even if she didn't pull my press
credentials, I still would not have had the opportunity to ask
her a question or speak for the people of Chicago
after the City Council meeting because Mayor
Lightfoot canceled her post-City Council
meeting press conference.
So I decided, you know, like everything else in Chicago now,
I had to, like, Kobayashi Maru meets "Mission Impossible."
I applied for the public comment section--
STEVE DOOCY: Right.
WILLIAM J. KELLY: --pre--
right before the meeting.
STEVE DOOCY: A lottery.
WILLIAM J. KELLY: It's a lottery.
It's limited to five people to speak for three minutes.
And just the luck of the Irish, St. Patrick's Day,
I was one of the five.
STEVE DOOCY: Yeah, no kidding.
She's probably sitting right there thinking,
oh, no, it's that guy.
Who gave him three minutes?
You had three minutes, and you made the most of it.
We saw you just a moment ago tell her to get
the hell out of your town.
Here you are asking about her pulling your press credentials.
WILLIAM J. KELLY: I should be sitting
over there with my colleagues, but I'm standing over here.
You told me that crime was down.
My videos went viral, millions of views,
comments, likes, and shares.
And it was hurting your reelection campaign.
So you revoked my media credential.
STEVE DOOCY: And I know your media
credential question is still being tied up in the courts.
Did she respond to you in any way?
WILLIAM J. KELLY: She did not respond.
I felt like I had to do that, Steve,
because so many Chicagoans have told
me that they feel like my-- like I'm speaking for them.
And they never got a chance to--
they never had their voices heard.
You know, that's why I'm writing a book to tell their story now
and to really explain what happened
in Chicago under Lightfoot.
You know, I feel it's like a little victory over Lightfoot
Day in Chicago or something.
But my fear is that once she's gone
and the national attention goes away, that Chicago--
the real Chicagoans will be right back in the crime
and the corruption.
STEVE DOOCY: Sure.
WILLIAM J. KELLY: So we need to dissect
what happened here, make sure it never happens again.
My media credential is still in federal court.
We need this to--
we need to be successful.
You can read about that at reporterwilliamjkelly.com.
And this can never happen to another major American city,
Steve.
Thank you.
STEVE DOOCY: You bet.
Reporter William J. Kelly, not dot-com, the actual person.
William, thank you very much for joining us today, the day
before St. Patrick's Day, when they dye the river green
there in Chicago.
WILLIAM J. KELLY: And drive the snakes out of City Hall.
STEVE DOOCY: OK.
William, thank you very much.