Tiffany Henyard, the mayor of south suburban Dolton, tried but failed to cancel Monday's village board meeting - the first of the new year - saying credible threats were made against elected officials.
The meeting began with a fiery protest for the mayor's ex-assistant, Fenia Dukes.
"We won't stop fighting for your justice because we understand what you went through," said Vivian Allen, a Thornton Township resident.
Dukes worked for Henyard for about six months. Dukes claims that on a taxpayer-funded trip to Las Vegas in May 2023, she was assaulted by Trustee Andrew Holmes. Dukes filed a civil lawsuit accusing Holmes of assault and nonconsensual dissemination of private sexual images.
The lawsuit accuses Henyard of putting her on unpaid leave and later firing her to try to cover up the alleged incident.
Police documents show that the Clark County District Attorney’s Office declined to move forward with criminal charges in the case against Holmes.
Dukes returned to Las Vegas on Dec. 11, completing a second police report; this one was for unlawful dissemination of intimate images of another person. So far, NBC Chicago has been unable to learn if the Clark County District Attorney will pursue criminal charges related to the report.
"I am beyond blessed and grateful..to have every single one of you here for me," Dukes said. "I thought I would be standing up here by myself, but look at ya'll right next to me…I love ya'll, too."
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When asked about the lawsuit a few months ago, Holmes told NBC Chicago "no comment." In a statement, an attorney for Henyard said that she strongly denies all the allegations mentioned by Ms. Dukes. The statement went on to say that Henyard did not put Ms. Dukes on unpaid medical leave or fire her because of any report of misconduct.
As for threats made to elected officials – the mayor pro-tem said the board was not aware of any.
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"The board has received no evidence of a credible threat nor have we heard anything briefed on that," said Jason House, trustee and mayor pro-tem.
