Warren Mayor Jim Fouts said in a disturbing new audio recording that he wanted to shoot his former chief of staff “through the fucking head.”
“I’d like to take a 2x4, and I’d like to beat the fucking shit out of him,” Fouts said of longtime friend and supporter Henry Krzystowczyk. “I’d like to take a gun and shoot him through the fucking head. I could easily get a gun and shoot Henry. I’d enjoy shooting him.”
It’s unclear when the recording was made. Krzystowczyk died in May of natural causes at the age of 88.
Breaking News! Mayor Caught on Tape. from Joe Warren on Vimeo.
Krzystowczyk served as Fouts’ first chief of staff in 2008. But after six months, Krzystowczyk resigned, citing Fouts’ inexperience and management style.
“What I seen there is, to put it politely, he didn’t have the experience to handle a large organization like the city,” Krzystowczyk told C&G Newspapers. “He started not believing in delegating responsibility. No man is an island. Over a period of time, in my viewpoint, that went out the window and he more or less calls the shots.”
For years, Krzystowczyk and Fouts were political enemies. But before Krzystowczyk’s death, the pair became friends again. A source connected to the recording tells Metro Times that the audio was not released until after Krzystowczyk’s death out of respect for the former chief of staff.
"He was my friend and a strong supporter of my efforts on the Warren City Council," Fouts posted on Facebook following Krzystowczyk’s death. "Many feared Henry because he could challenge anyone and was usually right on the fine points of a city ordinance or state law. He was a leader and had many followers."
It's the latest of a string of incendiary comments said by Fouts caught on tape. In other audio recordings, the mayor compared Black people to “chimps,” called older women “dried-up cunts,” said he'd like to abuse “an abused woman,” mocked people with disabilities, and even boasted about the ease of picking up teenage prostitutes in Amsterdam.
Fouts has repeatedly claimed in public and on social media that the audio recordings were doctored. But when under oath in an Aug. 23 deposition, Fouts refused to say whether the recordings of his racist comments were authentic.
Fouts is running for reelection against Warren City Councilwoman Kelly Colegio.
Whether the recordings have any impact on the November election is anyone’s guess. Fouts has been so popular that he won his past two elections with more than 80 percent of the vote — the largest margins of victory in the city’s history.
His popularity in the face of so many controversies is the subject of an in-depth story published by Vice on Monday.
Fouts couldn't be reached for comment. He has said in the past he will no longer respond to audio recordings.
Stay on top of Detroit news and views. Sign up for our weekly issue newsletter delivered each Wednesday.
