Video: Wichita leaders' argument becomes aggressive
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) -- A disagreement between some Wichita-area elected officials led to a heated argument recorded on video and one state lawmaker being pushed to the ground as he tried to break it up.
The Wichita City Council and Sedgwick County Commission went to Topeka Wednesday to meet with Wichita-area state representatives and senators and attend the South-Central Legislative Delegation Reception.
During the get-together at The Celtic Fox, Wichita City Council member Brandon Johnson and Kansas Representative Ford Carr got into a heated exchange. They began shouting at each other.
Other leaders tried to calm them, but the shouting continued until they both got up. At that point, County Commissioner Ryan Baty and Kansas Representative Henry Helgerson got between them and tried to keep them apart.
A video shared anonymously with KSN shows Carr pushing Helgerson aside. Helgerson can be seen falling into a table, and you can hear glass breaking.
The video shows Wichita City Councilmember Mike Hoheisel and another person joining Baty in trying to keep Carr and Johnson apart. Helgerson got up and tried calming the men down, but the shouting continued.
A recording of the incident begins with the shouting. It includes many curse words shouted between Carr and Johnson. The video lasts about two and a half minutes and ends with the men walking away from each other.
KSN News contacted both Johnson and Carr.
Carr did not mince words when he spoke about what led up to the altercation. In a conversation with KSN's Derek Lytle, he used words that cannot be repeated on television.
The argument centered around funding for 29th and Grove health screenings.
Carr said he told Johnson and Baty they messed up.
Tense tones in a Topeka pub.
"Where was that passion when the funds were being appropriated and not being spent," said Carr.
Rep. Carr, pointing blame at Sedgwick County and Wichita city leaders.
When asked about the heated moments captured on video, Carr said the reason is that he is emotional, he grew up in the impacted area, and lost family. He believes his actions spoke to that.
"Do I take it personal? Am I heated? Am I passionate? Yes, I am. I will forever be passionate about my community, and I will fight for the rights of my community. In whatever that looks like, we wouldn't be here, Derek, if the right things had been done in the past," said Carr.
Johnson sent a written response:
I'm not going to speak about the incident in Topeka. That event will be properly investigated, and the video, and those present can speak to the specifics of what happened and by whom. I don't want that incident to in anyway distract from the genuine, positive efforts and progress we're making to for residents to address the vitally needed testing and remediation at the 29th and Grove neighborhoods."
Brandon Johnson, Wichita City Council District 1
Johnson refers to the 29th and Grove neighborhood, which was the site of a chemical leak at the Union Pacific Railyard decades ago. The leak contaminated the groundwater. Both Carr and Johnson represent the area.
Carr has been critical of how long it has taken city and county leaders to come up with matching funds to help with cancer screenings for area residents.
Baty declined to interview and avoided direct comment on the events in the pub. He did however provide a written statement to KSN Thursday evening:
For nearly 40 years, the people living around 29th & Grove were unaware that there was poison in the water beneath their feet. Upon learning of the situation, I have worked diligently alongside partners at the State, City of Wichita, local organizations and community advocates to find solutions and bring justice to those have been impacted. What we learned in 2023 was that funding and testing, alone, would not be enough to provide effective solutions. The community needed to better equip the clinics so that they can better manage the public health issues we were tasking them to address. For the last six months, we have worked collectively to develop a systemic plan that we expect to have a generational impact. Our people deserve a well thought out, well executed strategy – which is opposite of what they have been given up to this point."
Ryan Baty, County Commissioner
"My hope at the end of this. Because of the attention. We can move forward and come up with the additional $750,000," said Carr.
KSNT contacted Helgerson about what happened.
"I had one too many Pepsi's and I slipped," he said. "I am friends with both Brandon Johnson and Ford Carr, and we have a lot of work to do in Topeka."
Because Carr is a Democrat, KSNT also contacted Democrat Minority Leader Representative Brandon Woodard.
"We are taking this matter seriously and are committed to resolving it," he said in a statement. "Our focus remains serving the people of Kansas and advancing policies that meet their needs.”
The mood Wednesday night was much lighter in a photo of some of the leaders shared on the Sedgwick County Facebook page.
The county says Baty presented a plaque to Kansas Representative Leah Howell for her work as the 2024 South-Central Delegation chair.
You can watch the full censored video below: