Released Body Cam Footage Shows Natalie McDaniel's December Tirade at City Hall

Around 300 days after an outburst at Cleveland Heights City Hall kickstarted months of scandal for Kahlil Seren and wife Natalie McDaniel, a refreshed law department now serving under a new mayor on Friday released police body cam footage that captured the interaction.

Twenty minutes of footage, filmed by officer Jason Moze, provides audio of a loud and angry McDaniel going off on her husband after what seems to be a lapse in communication.

Seren’s administration had steadfastly refused to release the footage to media or the public, even arguing in the Ohio Court of Claims that talk between the spouses “in private” was not a verified public record. On September 4, the courts denied that claim. (The release also came days after Seren left office after being recalled.)

As Moze’s incident report explained earlier this year, McDaniel had been trying that morning to get ahold of Seren, who was apparently not responding to her texts. So, around 1 p.m. on December 6, McDaniel showed up to City Hall to confront him and his team in person.

“I despise you,” McDaniel is heard behind closed doors as Moze sat at his desk.

“I’m not somebody off the fucking street,” she told Seren. “I can’t find you or answer your phone—I don’t know where you went. I just came out of a meeting and you were supposed to be there. You are being cryptic!”

“Do you understand? I didn’t know if you were okay,” McDaniel told Seren, who kept quiet. “I didn’t know if you were okay. I had no fucking information!”

Lt. Sean Corrigan joins Moze minutes into the incident, and eventually enters the mayor’s office—accessible by key fob only—to attempt to try and calm McDaniel down.

“She’s going off. I can’t get in there,” Moze is heard telling Corrigan. “She’s screaming.”

Corrigan’s involvement seems to simmer McDaniel’s outburst, leading to somewhat of an apology.

“Why are you not talking?” McDaniel’s heard saying, possibly to Seren.

And to Corrigan: “Fuck you! What are you, de-escalating? What are you doing!”

“I am a light-skinned Black woman, okay?” McDaniel explained in a softer tone. “Asking me to suppress my natural reaction to disrespect by a giant white man is a bit much, but I hear your point.”

After an overwhelming recall vote on September 9, the Seren administration came to end this week. Former Council President Tony Cuda took Seren’s post on Wednesday.

Seren didn’t leave without a final mark. On Tuesday, he fired Law Director William Hanna for a plethora of reasons tied to what he saw as a breach of trust related to the release of public records.

Interim Mayor Tony Cuda rehired Hanna the next day.