LODI, Calif. — The debate over a Lodi City Councilmember's resignation continues this week. Shakir Khan, who faces charges related to election crimes, marched with his supporters to City Hall Wednesday evening, calling for justice.
Nearly two weeks ago, Khan was arrested on suspicion of election crimes stemming from the 2020 election.
"What was done was dirty and I'm going to stand up with my people and fight this," Khan said as he addressed his supporters Wednesday night outside City Hall.
Initially, Khan agreed with the mayor to resign, but since then Khan has said he was coerced.
"There was a forced resignation. It was coerced upon me when I was in a booking lobby," Khan said. "That should have never been done. My lawyer is already going to file a federal lawsuit against the city."
Khan walked into the council chambers and submitted a form to speak during public comment, addressing the resignation and allegations against him.
Among the allegations, the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office said deputies found 41 mail-in ballots at Khan's home and 71 names were registered to his home or cell phone number.
"That is totally false accusations against me. Somebody set me up and we're going to fight that in a court of law," Khan said during public comment. "And the second thing, they're talking about all those ballots. That is legal in California, it is called ballot harvesting and all those people they're going to the court with me."
During public comment, Khan was met with opposition from some locals.
"I would like to make a motion that Mr. Khan never be seated as a public servant in the city of Lodi, knowing that he was a city council member and directly, knowingly violated the law," said one man who addressed the council.
"I'm going to bring up the fact that he brought up voter fraud. Yes, in the state of California, it is legal right now to harvest ballots. The problem is, you can't have the same signature on every ballot for the same house," said Jim Shoemaker, President of the California Republican Assembly of San Joaquin County.
One local expressed disappointment with the council in how the situation was handled.
"You should have done something before it got to this point and you didn't," the local said during public comment.
Khan was released one day after his arrest. A superior court judge ordered Khan to wear a GPS ankle tracking device as one of the conditions of his release.
The City's website still lists Khan's seat as vacant.
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