Houston Politician Charged With Disorderly Conduct For Allegedly Harassing Teen Wearing Trump MAGA T-Shirt
A Houston-area elected official who allegedly screamed at four teenage girls who were waiting in line at a local cookie shop now faces a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge.
West University Place Councilwoman Kellye Burke allegedly approached the teens — one of whom was wearing a “Trump: Make America Great Again” T-shirt — and shouted “grab ’em by the p***y, girls,” and “MAGA, MAGA, MAGA,” while shaking her first, KPRC Click2Houston explained.
Burke allegedly also took a picture of the girl wearing the Trump T-shirt.
Make America Great Again (MAGA) was one of President’s Trump’s slogans during the 2016 election campaign. The official may have been alluding to comments Trump made on the notorious leaked Access Hollywood audio tape.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that video exists of the incident, although it apparently has not yet surfaced.
“One of the teens’ mothers took to social media to try to find out who would verbally attack a group of teenage girls, and found video of the incident, which led her to Burke, according to West University Essentials magazine.”
The father of one of the teenage girls said they were scared and apparently thought that they might be in danger. They left the store without engaging with the woman.
Cops in West University Place, Texas, which is an upscale Houston suburb, referred the incident to the Harris County Constable, resulting in the filing of the disorderly conduct Class C misdemeanor charge against the official. If convicted in court, a defendant could be ordered to pay a $500 fine.
Kellye Burke’s Twitter page indicates that she is a volunteer for a gun control group, but according to MySanAntonio.com, she is (or was) president of the Texas chapter of the group that is affiliated with Everytown for Gun Safety, an organization funded by ex-New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Backlash after Texas councilwoman allegedly berates teen girl over pro-Trump ‘MAGA’ T-shirt https://t.co/M0zDC1HJ6q#Trump pic.twitter.com/euVy9LuJ6h
— Toronto Sun (@TheTorontoSun) April 6, 2018
In a statement, West University Place Mayor Susan Sample acknowledged that neither she nor other council members are vested with the authority to remove any of their colleagues from office.
In a separate statement of her own issued through an attorney, Kellye Burke, a Democrat, offered these comments.
“I have repeatedly apologized for the bad judgment I used and making the statement I did, but I do not believe repeating the words of the President of the United States is a crime. However, I will apologize again on behalf of myself, the President of the United States and all the media outlets who repeated his words both electronically and in print.”
Four teenage girls were in line at a cookie shop when they say @KellyeBurkeTX angrily yelled “grab her by the p**** girls!” and “MAGA! MAGA!” at them while shaking her fist. One of them had on a Trump shirt. Girls left without responding. “They were terrified,” one father says.
— Jacob Rascon (@jacobabc13) April 5, 2018
Kellye Burke apparently apologized to one of the families directly. None of the families involved wish to be identified out of reprisal concerns, however.
As the disorderly conduct charge against Houston-area city councilwoman Kellye Burke constitutes a developing story, please check back for updates.
