In a fiery resignation speech peppered with terms like “lynch mob,” San Diego mayor Bob Filner relented, agreeing to resign in return for some protection in a sexual harassment lawsuit brought by former aide Irene McCormack Jackson. San Diego’s City Council agreed to pay $98,000 of a past receivable to Mr. Filner’s defense attorneys, agreed to pay for his defense in the Jackson lawsuit, and agreed to pay any damages awarded in the case (excepting punitive damages) or the amount of any out-of-court settlement.
BLOB HISTORICAL TIDBIT–Want to know the derivation of the term “lynch mob?” Well, one account has it deriving from a distinct historical event which happened in Galway, Ireland. This account attributes the origin of this term to James Fitzstephen Lynch, mayor and warden of Galway, Ireland in 1493. Supposedly, Mayor Lynch hung his own son, against the wishes of the Galway townspeople, for killing the nephew of a Spanish friend of the Mayor. Although Galway citizens did not believe the Mayor would carry out the sentence against his own son who was well liked by the populace, the story goes that he had a “lynch mob” locate his son, with the Mayor doing the hanging himself outside the castle. Others dispute this account, but it certainly is a colorful version of how the term originated.