A day after he walked out of a Kansas City, Mo., jail cell, the man who disrupted a speech by Mayor Sly James earlier this week said Thursday he's running for mayor himself.
Derron Black, 31, jumped onto the podium Tuesday during James' annual State of the City address, then knocked over a flag, took the microphone and began an obscenity-laced complaint about neglect of the city's poorer neighborhoods.
James' security detail wrestled Black off the stage after a few seconds.
Black — who lost a race for the state House last year — was charged Wednesday with third-degree assault on a law enforcement officer and obstructing government operations. He posted bond and was released.
And Black's 2015 campaign kickoff Thursday was even more chaotic than his debut on the national stage had been Tuesday.
He called an afternoon news conference at which his advisers said he would announce his candidacy. But when reporters showed up, Black said he hadn't actually made a final decision, NBC station KSHB of Kansas City reported.
Black did, however, apologize to the bodyguard who tackled him Tuesday and ended up with cuts and bruises for his efforts. And he acknowledged that "getting frustrated like that and having an outburst is definitely not something that's appropriate," The Kansas City Star reported.
Then, as reporters pressed him with questions about his political intentions, Black's advisers began shooing them away from the press conference they themselves had organized.
Later Thursday, in a second news conference, Black finally took the mayoral leap, telling reporters that he would, indeed, run in 2015.
He said he became serious about the race while he was in jail after Tuesday's incident.
"Will it come back to hurt me? I hope not," he said.
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