Butts' missing link Forum excerpt from USA Today
Channel: Ed Fleming
Date: 2015-03-24

This is the approximately 20-second video segment that USA Today deleted from its interview with Inglewood's mayor, James T. Butts, regarding how the stadium proposal will require the destruction of the Forum. It was cut out of the video starting at the 1:25 minute mark. (See the link to the edited video at the bottom of this story.)

When asked about the deletion during a late March telephone conversation, Peter said, "[USA Today] is responsible for omitting the 20-second clip." When asked why they were going to bat for Butts rather than investigating why he made such a statement, Peter said, "I didn't find enough to substantiate all that was in the story."

Butts, of course, refused to answer why he disclosed that the Forum would be destroyed, let alone why he is hiding the fact.

In January of 2013, Butts approved an $18 million "redevelopment loan" that he attempted to force the city to forgive in 2014: http://www.morningsideparkchronicle.com/5388/84436/a/mayor-butts-claims-chronicle-story-prompted-18-million-loan-to-msg-to-be-reconsi

Butts later had the city spend another $2 million for the Forum security, street cameras and much more: http://www.morningsideparkchronicle.com/5388/83332/a/did-forum-sale-cost-inglewood-taxpayers-20-million

That all came around the time when Madison Square Garden—the Forum's new owner—backed out of a parking lot deal that Butts may have known would not be honored: http://www.morningsideparkchronicle.com/5388/84075/a/was-mayor-butts-parking-lot-lease-with-forum-intentionally-falsified

Moreover, residents around the Forum were forced to endure dangerous motor traffic after the mayor secretly decommissioned the red light cameras: http://www.morningsideparkchronicle.com/5386/88639/a/inglewood-resident-records-dangers-of-fabulous-forum-traffic-at-mtvs-vma-awards

Now Butts is saying that the Forum will be torn down, but not one single media outlet is reporting it, let alone the sudden deletion of his statements from this video interview with USA Today's Josh Peter. Here is the video that exists today: http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2015/02/15/inglewood-st-rams-stan-kroenke-hollywood-park-james-butts/23463967/