Former Senator Theatre Owner Disrupts Council Meeting with Tirade

Tom Kiefaber, the former owner of the historic Senator Theatre, was unhappy about legislation putting the cinema's interior on the city's landmark list.

So he did something about it. He brought the council meeting where the legislation was about to be approved to a halt.

Kiefaber stood at the front of the council chambers and angrily denounced the proposed legislation and the council members, calling the city a "banana republic." At one point he even sits down next to the council president's desk.

"There’s an election coming up and everybody in this city should look at this legislative body and the administration and see that we have a dysfunctional city here," Kiefaber said (at about 1:20 in the video). "We have a culture of corruption that is absolutely infused in this body."

After a few minutes Kiefaber was escorted out and the meeting resumed and the legislation was approved.

A Baltimore police officer stationed at City Hall entered the chambers and told Kiefaber to leave. The police officer said he was not arrested.

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