Patch Readers React To Joliet's Black Lives Matter Settlement

JOLIET, IL — It became one of the most controversial community stories covered by Joliet Patch in the summer of 2020. On the night of May 31, 2020, a George Floyd Black Lives Matter demonstration got shut down by the Joliet police near the White Castle.

Later that night, Joliet Mayor Bob O'Dekirk tackled two Black men in their 20s in the parking lot near the Speedway gas station. Several Joliet police officers near the mayor got involved and took Jamal Smith and his brother Victor Williams into custody on charges of aggravated assault and mob action.

By July 2, 2020, the Will County State's Attorney's Office of Jim Glasgow dismissed the charges against Williams and Smith. This week, Joliet Patch broke the biggest news in the case: the out-of-court federal lawsuit settlement against O'Dekirk and the Joliet Police Department has resulted in a $93,000 payout involving Joliet taxpayer funds for the two plaintiffs.

Smith and Williams, plus their lawyers, Lawrence O'Reilly of Chicago and Michael Baker of Chicago, all get to share the $93,000 settlement from Joliet. The two plaintiff's lawyers will not collect any legal fees from Joliet's taxpayers, according to the settlement agreement.

Back in the summer of 2020, while numerous Black Lives Matter George Floyd demonstrations took place across Joliet, former six-term Joliet City Councilman Warren Dorris joined with Bishop Steve Evans and Rev. Herbert Brooks in calling for O'Dekirk's resignation.

Joliet citizen Loretta Hobbs, who also spoke at the press conference, agreed. "The mayor is no longer a police officer, and he should be arrested for assault," Hobbs said at the time. "I challenge the City Council to take a vote of having no confidence against this mayor."

Also, that summer, Will County Board member Rachel Ventura wanted her constituents to know she believed Joliet's mayor should be taken away in handcuffs and put in jail.

Joliet's Times Weekly newspaper reported Ventura filed a compliant against O'Dekirk with the Office of Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul.

Ventura told the weekly Joliet newspaper that one video "clearly shows the Joliet Mayor Robert O'Dekirk instigated violence by grabbing a young Black man and pushing him towards a group of police officers who gang-piled on the 23-year-old man and his older brother. Both young men were hospitalized following the assault instigated by O'Dekirk."

Despite facing weeks and months of controversy, including small groups of protestors showing up in front of his house, O'Dekirk refused to resign. He staunchly refused to apologize for his scuffle with Smith and Williams.

O'Dekirk maintained he did nothing wrong and was simply defending himself. "These guys came to our city and participated in a riot, and now they want to complain about me and the police," O'Dekirk told Joliet Patch during an interview in October 2020.

Illinois State Police investigated the mayor's skirmish. Last June 17, Joliet Patch reported the Illinois State Police cleared O'Dekirk of any criminal wrongdoing in the case.

"Jefferson Street got out of control, and I got caught in the middle of that," O'Dekirk told Patch after learning of the Illinois State Police decision.

When Joliet Patch broke this week's news, revealing the $93,000 settlement involving city of Joliet funds, several Patch readers took to social media to offer reaction.

Some of the comments bashed the mayor. Many others praised O'Dekirk for his presence on West Jefferson Street during a night that resulted in widespread rioting and looting. About a dozen Joliet businesses sustained significant damage, and Joliet police made 30 arrests.

Here's some of the reader reaction from Tuesday's Joliet Patch article:

• "Legal fees to take it to trial would have been 5 times that amount. Smart move by the city attorney. Say what you will, but I’m proud to have a Mayor who is out there on the front lines and doesn’t take any gruff."
• "I'm proud to have a mayor who will stand up for our city too. The riots never should have happened here period. They were NOT peaceful."
• "THESE CITY OFFICIALS IN OFFICE ARE COSTING THE TAX PAYERS MONEY. TAXES WILL BE GOING UP AGAIN TO PAY FOR ALL THIS. THIS SHOULD BE ON THE MAYOR TO PAY."
• "One more thing. Citizens of Joliet need to sue O'Dekirk for our money back."
• "Everyone out there was not being destructive or rioting. The 2 individuals from this case were from neighboring Crest Hill and Lockport and from the video I saw they were walking. I don’t condone destroying property or rioting but I understand why. If we work towards correcting the root of the problem there would be no aftermath of riots/protests."
• "Those 2 individuals were not the aggressors, the mayor and the police were. That is why the charges were dropped because despite what you may believe there were some peaceful protestors out there."
• "The problem here is not what the mayor did. It's that everyone keeps settling out of court thinking it saves them money. In the short term maybe, but in the long run it encourages more lawsuits. The mayor was out talking to his constituents. This guy got in his face. Put any normal person in that same environment, and they would've defended themselves as well."
• "Yeah let’s encourage more money grabs. I saw the events of the evening from two videos and pov and he did not a darn thing wrong. His police training kicked in and he put his hands on the individual's shoulders backing him up to uniformed JPD officers to handle him. And I don’t want to hear anything about oh he shouldn’t have been out there. He is not only the M a your but a former LEO. Imo he had a sense of duty to be there and do what he could to help. Should be commended but instead he’s been vilified and sued. About right for these times. Sickening."
• "That is a lot of money for a lot of nothing. If the protesters were doing something illegal, they should have been arrested and have to post bail, have a trial and fined if proven guilty. This stuff can be a money maker and treated as such. No one is thinking here. Now they need to write a bunch of tickets to get this money back."
• "He shouldn’t have been out there, he is no longer a police officer. He only made the situation worse because once the police knew he was out there they now have to try and play Secret Service to him to make sure nothing happens to him. The police chief didn’t even know he was out there so no he should not have been there. If he was assaulted by that man then he definitely had the right to defend himself but that is not what is being said or what I saw from the video."