See What Upsets Darien Chief About Protest Coverage

DARIEN, IL — Darien Police Chief Greg Thomas told the City Council this week about media coverage on the Black Lives Matter protests that "drives me crazy."

"There is a big difference between protests and riots," he told the council this week. "It drives me crazy when I hear media and other people in the profession of policing use those two terms interchangeably. Those terms are not interchangeable. The term 'peaceful protest' is redundant. Protests that are peaceful are protests. Protests that are not peaceful are riots."

He said he gets upset when media say protesters looted stores and hurt officers and bystanders. "Protesters don't do that," he said.

When people are protesting, they are exercising their constitutional rights, Thomas said.

In a public statement this week, Thomas said he was "angered and saddened" by the death of George Floyd, which happened during an encounter with Minneapolis police last week. As a profession, he said, police failed Floyd.

No Black Lives Matter protests have been held in Darien. In the last few days, demonstrations have taken place in Elmhurst and La Grange, among other towns. African Americans make up 3.5 percent of Darien's population, according to the U.S. Census.