Four irate Newark City Council members plan to file a lawsuit and begin an investigation into Mayor Cory Booker’s actions at last night’s meeting that they say prompted a melee that resulted in police using pepper spray on some of the crowd members. 

South Ward Councilman Ras Baraka and the others claim the mayor was violating the law when he used his power as mayor to cast the fifth and decisive vote to appoint ally Shanique Davis Speight as the successor to Donald Payne Jr. on the council.  Baraka says even his mother was sprayed by a police officer.

“Yes, I look at it as an act of war to spray mace in a crowded area, in a close area like this doesn’t seem to even be a part of your training.”

Central Ward Councilman Darrin Sharif says it’s a day that will live in infamy.

“This community, now, is becoming divided, quicker and quicker, literally by the second.”

Sharif and the others vowed to fight Speight's appointment in court, though they have not hired counsel and are not sure when a suit will be filed.