They stormed out in anger.
The family of the teen who died in a van last week in Cincinnati came to City Hall hoping to hear answers about how Kyle Plush's call to 911 for help did not end with the life saving assistance he so desperately needed. Instead, Councilman Wendell Young started talking about potential lawsuits and the big pay day that the family could be in line for. Relatives objected calling those comments insensitive and walked out. The teens father said they were interested in answers, not money. After the family left, Young said he never meant for his comments to be insensitive.
Many other speakers did make a special point of recognizing what the family has been through and just how devastating the death has been for city employees. Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld was moved to tears as he spoke to the family saying "I want to add my personal apology for the ways in which people and the system failed you all as a family."
The answers many people were hoping to hear about why police did not search vehicles in the school parking lot or contact the school about the story went unanswered. City leaders also could not address how key information that the teen provided to a 911 dispatcher was never relayed to police officers in the field. Cincinnati Police Chief Elliot Isaac says that is part of the ongoing investigation which he hopes to wrap up within ten days.
The head of the Hamilton County Republican Party has taken to Twitter to demand the resignation of the Councilman who caused the uproar.