Teamsters Let Rats loose in N.Y. city council meeting during layoff protest

The Detroit Free Press reports:

City officials said that as many as a dozen rats were set loose in the City Council chambers on Tuesday night, when union workers showed up to protest looming layoffs - a showdown that ultimately included expletive-filled taunts and squealing, scurrying rats.

"It borders on not only disobedience in terms of disorderly conduct ... but criminal mischief, because I think there were some things that were broken in the chambers," said Adam Brill, a spokesman for council President Chuck Lesnick.

The incident came as dozens of Teamsters and other union members gathered outside City Hall to demonstrate against job cuts and included the appearance of a giant inflatable rat that is common at union rallies.

Union members protested the cuts during the public comment portions of a council budget meeting and a subsequent regular board meeting.

Most of the commentary was civil, officials later said.

But Yonkers police were later called in, and Brill said they are now investigating the rat incident and have determined that several rodents were purchased at various locations in the city before the meeting.

Will unions be more "respectful" of ObamaCare?