DETROIT – With no television cameras allowed, Local 4 captured just a few images during a media Q & A session with former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick on Thursday.
The disgraced ex-mayor was the featured guest speaker at the Detroit Chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists.
Here's a bit of the 2 hour exchange that could be heard on the radio.
"Why I decided to this, if there's anything I can do. To help begin to turn the page in the community, then I want to do it," said Kilpatrick.
But much of the conversation focused on his fall from grace, and his upcoming federal corruption trial.
"This case is a classic federal shotgun case where we just going to shoot possibly everything we can and see if it sticks," said Kilpatrick. His response on the hundred who could potentially testify against him.," It's not how many people, it's who," said Kilpatrick. On whether he'll get a fair trial, " I don't think so in Detroit, I never thought I could," said Kilpatrick.
And on the current state of the city, Kilpatrick had harsh words for man leading Detroitnow. "Dave bing doesn't have the emotional energy, the physical energy, and he doesn't come out of the body politics. So he's a different kind of mayor and I think the citizens in the city of Detroitare struggling with that right now," said Kilpatrick.
Kilpatrick says his main source of income is coming from speaking engagements. He says he's been requested to talk about his life from people around the world. Whether his book has been a success, Kilpatrick didn't really say. However he made it very clear he still owes the city over $800-thousand dollars in restitution.
Jury selection in his federal case resumes next week. The trial is slated to begin the first week in September.