Glendale mayor Jerry Weiers isn't the most popular guy among Arizona Coyotes fans lately. He was a big part of the push to get the city council to terminate the city's deal with the Coyotes. That all went down Wednesday, but the team is already pursuing legal action against the City of Glendale. Coyotes fans, who have been through a lot over the years, are still fuming, though.
Ronda Pearson already got to live the ultimate fan dream by verbally lambasting Weiers in an impassioned diatribe after the vote to cancel the deal went through. She got to take it a step way further Saturday.
Long before the Coyotes deal was canceled in a 5-2 vote by the Glendale City Council, Mayor Weiers committed to allowing himself to be tased if the community managed to raise $10,000 for the Club of Arizona, a group that raises money for first responders.
In the wake of the city council vote, Mayor Weiers hit his fundraising goal as Coyotes fans and others flooded a crowdfunding effort to ensure that the one with the finger on the trigger was a fellow Coyotes fan. Specifically, they wanted it to be Pearson, whose rant directed at city officials Wednesday went viral.
The efforts worked and Pearson got to hit the Glendale mayor with a Taser. And yes, there absolutely is video of it…
VIDEO: Mayor Jerry Weiers 'OK' after being tased by Coyotes fan for charity event. http://t.co/tkyU5UdAFi https://t.co/moD79rsOAP
— 12 News (@12News) June 13, 2015
The only thing worse than the feeling of getting Tasered is when people are cheering about it. We’re guessing the mayor’s approval rating hasn’t been great the last few days.
According to local news reports, Weiers is OK.
Though there was definitely some unbridled satisfaction on Pearson’s face, she told the local news cameras that she hoped the mayor was going to be alright.
Bea Wyatt, one of the Coyotes fans that helped with the fundraiser, told 12News in Phoenix that, in addition to multiple fan contributions, an anonymous donor contributed “several thousand” dollars to the cause of attaining the trigger spot for Pearson.
I wonder who has a few thousand dollars laying around and a general disdain for Glendale city officials? Could be anybody, I guess.
It’s been a pretty interesting couple of days for Pearson, who is now the face of Coyote fan defiance. These folks aren’t going away without a fight.
The Coyotes were granted a restraining order against the City of Glendale Friday by a local judge. That allows the team to continue operating before the lawsuit brought against the city goes to trial. Should their lawsuit fail, the Coyotes may need to find a new home and quickly.
