As ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick languishes in a federal prison in Oklahoma, serving a 28-year sentence, he might take some comfort knowing he still has supporters back home.
Mark Hicks of The Detroit News reports that viewers at attended the premiere of a new documentary about former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick on Friday at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History cheered Kilpatrick and booed images of Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy, whose charges in the sexting scandal drove him from office.
The News writes:
The movie, "KMK: A Documentary of Kwame Kilpatrick," offered a rare glimpse into a life long scrutinized: Tim and Tobias Smith, a father and son film-making team, were granted exclusive access to Kilpatrick after he left prison in 2011. The nearly 90-minute film chronicles the former mayor and his family as they prepared for the federal corruption trial that sent him back to prison in 2013.
"We didn't set out to change people's perception," Tobias Smith said. "We set out to simply put the truth out and let him speak. . . . After hearing from him, giving the full scope of who he is as a person, I think people will have a greater understanding of some of the decisions he has made."
Kilpatrick talks about the regrets he had about his affair with his chief of staff, Christine Beatty, which resulted in the texting scandal. . . .
var p = new anv_pl_def();p.loadVideoWithKey("eyJwIjoiMTAwMDAxMSIsIm0iOiJTUFMiLCJ2IjoiZXhwcmVzc18xNDI4MTQ4Njk0MjI5In0=");The former mayor's wife, Carlita Kilpatrick, said she felt an "overall darkness" from dealing with constant scrutiny.
The documentary included footage of Kilpatrick sharing thoughts about the legal troubles, public perception of his character and his political career.
Asked if he wanted to be president, Kilpatrick demurred, citing the challenges in Detroit: "I couldn't endure this mayor's job" without angering a lot of people. Later, he said charges against him were politically motivated. Kilpatrick stressed he was committed to improving the city but became the latest in a line of black mayors unfairly viewed as "inadequate to lead.
