Ed Flynn

According to the plaintiffs suing the Boston City Council over the redistricting map, the body violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by taking race into account in re-drawing district lines. Lining up in support of the lawsuit are a Who’s Who of Irish American elected officials representing South Boston and Dorchester.

A handful of incumbent politicians are seeking to testify in the federal court case challenging the legality of Boston’s voter district maps, including U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch, who has served in Congress since 2001.

A City Council hearing on the idea of using civilian flaggers instead of police details on some construction projects got heated Monday as Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association President Larry Calderone refused to surrender the microphone after exceeding the five-minute limit for testimony, prompting councilors to walk out of the hearing, held at the Bolling Building in Roxbury.

With several outbursts and more than an hour and a half spent in recess, city councilors voted on redistricting last Wednesday, passing newly drawn district lines based on the so-called unity map advanced by the NAACP, Mijente, Chinese Progressive Association and other groups representing communities of color.

A longstanding racial divide on the City Council has moved to center stage as the 13 members of the body debate the redrawing of the city’s nine council districts.

A redistricting map supported by voting rights advocates sparked fierce pushback from white City Councilors Monday during a heated hearing in City Hall’s Iannella Chamber.

Councilor Ricardo Arroyo last week pressed to be reinstated to his committee leadership positions of which he was stripped temporarily.

Amid political controversy, Boston City Council President Ed Flynn Monday suspended councilor and Suffolk County District Attorney candidate Ricardo Arroyo for two months from his chairmanship of two of the council’s powerful committees.

District 2 City Councilor Edward Flynn announced Wednesday he has the votes necessary to become president of the 13-member body, after his coalition of supporters joined forces with a group of Black and Latino councilors.