Darien Police Chief 'Angered' By Floyd's Death

DARIEN, IL — Darien Police Chief Greg Thomas said Tuesday he was "angered and saddened" by the death of George Floyd, which happened during an encounter with Minneapolis police last week. As a profession, police failed Floyd, he said.

"Law enforcement leaders must have the courage to denounce actions that tear at the very core of the communities we serve, our profession, our values and our principles," Thomas said in a statement to the community. "We must continue to build trust and respect with our communities."

Thomas said the Darien Police Department would stand with principled protests like those in response to police brutality and the death of George Floyd. The department, he said, would continue to protect essential First Amendment rights of free speech, peaceful protest and redress of grievances.

"The anger most are feeling is a justified emotion. The black community is angered, those who support the black community are angered, the police are angered," the chief said. "Though anger is a justified emotion and protests are a righteous response, riots are not. Two wrongs do not make a right. Having a justified feeling of anger does not mean we respond in an unlawful manner."

The chief said he believed there were three types of people in the demonstrations: protesters, rioters and opportunists. The protesters, he said, know what happened is wrong and want to have a voice and want justice and accountability so that what happened to George Floyd and many other black Americans never happens again. He said he wanted the public to know that Darien police are not trained to kneel on a person's neck.

"We unfortunately also have rioters: individuals who just want to create harm and chaos. They may or may not care about the elimination of police brutality or about the death of George Floyd," Thomas said. "They want to create chaos for a number of reasons. We should never lump rioters in with protesters. Protesters did not loot stores, burn businesses, injure officers or hurt bystanders — rioters did that!"

The third type of person is opportunists — a criminal element who are in the crowd to take advantage of others by stealing property, the chief said.

He asked the public to follow the city of Darien on social media for real-time updates.

"We are also working closely with local businesses to provide information that helps them make appropriate decisions about precautionary measures such as closing during civil unrest," Thomas said. "We appreciate information sent via email or through aldermen and ask that residents assist the police by not spreading rumors."

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No problems at Elmhurst Protest