Eric Lurry Protests Coming To Jim Glasgow's House?

JOLIET, IL — Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow could be the next prominent local elected official who will be targeted with demonstrators demanding justice for Eric Lurry, the 37-year-old Black man who died Jan. 29 after being in the custody of the Joliet Police Department.

At Tuesday night's Joliet City Council meeting that lasted 3 hours and 12 minutes, Minerva Sneed told the council Lurry was her nephew.

Sneed told the council she is a former long-time Joliet resident who now lives in Columbus, Ohio.

"Thank God I left this city because it's just as messy as before I left," Sneed remarked.

"Mr. Mayor, the Lurry family is going to leave you alone. We will not come back to your house doing any protests."

In the alternative, Sneed directed her attention to the Will County State's Attorney.

Glasgow is running for his fifth consecutive four-year term as a Democrat. He served two terms in the 1990s, before losing in 2000 to Republican Jeff Tomczak, only to come back and defeat Tomczak in the 2004 race and stay in political power ever since.

"I don't know who this Glasgow guy is," Sneed told the council Tuesday night. "But I know that name. That name has been around since I can remember. I think before I was walking and talking, and he's responsible as Will County State's Attorney to do the right thing. He also takes a sworn oath to do the right thing, so his house, those are the protests.

"It's gonna be at his house because it's time he do the right thing."

After five months of silence, Glasgow issued a one-page news release in early July clearing the Joliet Police officers of criminal wrongdoing in connection with Lurry's death.

"Eric Lurry's death was caused by the ingestion of fatal amounts of heroin, Fentanyl and cocaine and did not result directly from any action or inaction by an officer of the Joliet Police Department," Glasgow's statement reads.

Glasgow is running unopposed in the November general election. Glasgow and his supporters successfully challenged Plainfield attorney Rick Munoz's bid to be on the Republican ballot because Munoz voted in the March Democratic primary.

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According to his profile, Glasgow obtained his law degree in 1981, which is 39 years ago.

"This man has been this attorney general for what, 50 years?" Sneed asked the council. "He should be retired by now. Really, he should be retired. How old is he, 80? No, I'm really serious. It's time out as business as usual."

Sneed also scolded any Joliet City Council members who have relied on the input of Joliet's Black ministers regarding the controversial police car in-camera video tapes showing Lurry dying in the presence of Sgt. Doug May and Lt. Jeremy Harrison.

"This council is Joliet, not the group of Black ministers, and that's going to end," Sneed said.

She told the city council that its committee will review a number of reforms being proposed at the Joliet Police Department. For instance, Joliet police are one of the largest police departments in the Midwest who still do not equip their officers with body cameras.

Joliet Police Chief Al Roechner has not made the issue of body cameras a top priority during his two years as chief. Roechner has been with Joliet police about 30 years.

"We're sick and tired of you running to these ministers like they're the saviors," Sneed told the council. "When it's been the same after the same after the same after years and years and years. There's no longer business as usual ... everyone that had something to do with my nephew's murder, because he was murdered, every police officer that watched. I don't care if they said anything. If that was our family and someone was murdered, all of us go down for murder whether we committed it or not.

"The police department is not above the law and right now, they feel they're above the law. 'I can do whatever.'"

Sneed did not announce at Tuesday night's meeting when her group of demonstrators will protest in front of Glasgow's house.

Typically, the group has held its demonstrations on Sundays, but there have been some protests in front of the downtown Joliet Police Station on weekdays.

Related Patch coverage: Why Does Joliet Refuse To Buy Police Body Cameras? Hervey Asks