Indianapolis City-County Council leaders say residents remain welcome at council meetings but they need to let the body conduct its business, after a budget hearing this month ended with a man handcuffed on the floor of the public assembly room.
Council President Maggie Lewis said the council wants public participation but has to enforce its rules.
“We want to encourage people to come and have a conversation and be a part of the debate,” Lewis said. “But then also we have to recognize that we do have to follow the process and understand that you’re given two minutes to speak and that your comments should be germane to the issue on the agenda.”
Lewis said she expects more meetings like it. “I do believe this is our new normal,” she said. “This is happening across the country.”
Minority Leader Brian Mowery, R-District 25, said the answer is more security rather than tighter rules.
“I think maybe security is something we need to look at beefing up a little bit during some of these more potentially contentious meetings,” Mowery said. “There’s obviously times when emotions run high and tempers can flare, so I think we need to have cooler heads when we come to these meetings.”
Mowery said he did not expect the problem to extend much beyond public safety matters. “I don’t think sewers and sidewalks necessarily break into a fight in this place,” he said.
The Sept. 9 meeting of the Public Safety and Criminal Justice Committee was at least the second time in the past 15 months that sheriff’s deputies have removed members of the public from a council proceeding at a presiding officer’s direction.
IMPD Chief Tanya Terry was presenting the department’s 2027 budget proposal of roughly $400 million, an 11.5% increase over 2026, when protesters interrupted to voice anger over the July shooting death of Dalys Jett by IMPD officers and to urge the committee to reject the budget. Committee Chair Leroy Robinson paused the proceedings and instructed deputies to escort people out.
The Marion County Sheriff’s Office said at least 25 people agreed to leave. Deputies said Jamaal Shabazz refused multiple orders to exit, resisted as they escorted him out and turned toward a deputy in an attempt to strike him. Deputies took Shabazz to the ground and handcuffed him, and issued him a summons for resisting law enforcement and interfering with public safety. He was released rather than taken to the Marion County Adult Detention Center but is required to appear in court. No other arrests were reported.
Shabazz told Mirror Indy he became upset after deputies began touching him while he was gathering his belongings to leave.
Asked whether the council would review how deputies handled the removals, Lewis did not commit to one. “I do think it’s so important that we continue to stay in close contact with law enforcement to ensure that they are getting the proper training and that they understand the environment that we’re in,” she said, adding that the council needs to ensure people feel safe coming to City Hall to take part in the process.
Mowery declined to assess whether deputies followed policy. “I’m not well versed on sheriff deputy policy on how to do crowd control,” he said. “I could only see what I could see from my seat, and there was a lot going on, so it’s hard to tell from my angle what really transpired.”
Lewis also said she was not troubled by suggestions that some of the disruption was staged for social media. “People are going to do things to get a reaction out of us,” she said. “But at the end of the day, we need to make sure that we’re following our process, following our protocols.”
The IMPD portion of the Sept. 9 hearing ran roughly three hours, with Flock camera use and recent immigration enforcement activity also drawing scrutiny alongside police accountability.
Editor’s note: Jamaal Shabazz is not related to the editor of IndyPolitics.org.
