12 Photos: Six Corners Black Lives Matter Rally

JOLIET, IL —Romeoville resident Michael Gutierrez drove to Joliet Friday afternoon to hold up his two-sided sign denouncing Joliet Mayor Bob O'Dekirk's actions on Sunday night. A former Joliet police officer, O'Dekirk was involved in an altercation that resulted in the arrests of two young African-American men at one of the West Jefferson Street business parking lots.

One side of Gutierrez's sign had a photo of O'Dekirk with a pig nose and pig ears. It read: "Oink! Oink!" The other side of his sign read, "Resign Mayor O'Dekirk."

"I'm disgusted by the grotesque video of Mayor Bob O'Dekirk of Joliet choking and slamming a protester to the ground," Gutierrez told Joliet Patch's editor while standing at Joliet's busy Six Corners intersection holding his sign facing motorists traveling along Route 30.

More than 200 people attended Friday's two-hour demonstration on Joliet's west side. The event was organized on behalf of the Black Lives Matter movement. Many of the signs and rally chants were in memory of George Floyd, the Minneapolis man who died last month after a white police officer stood on his neck for several minutes, leaving Floyd unable to breathe.

Gutierrez said he hopes Joliet's mayor chooses to resign from political office. O'Dekirk was re-elected to a second four-term as Joliet's part-time mayor in April 2019. He ran unopposed.

"He is unable to serve as the chief executive officer of Will County's largest city," Gutierrez told Patch. "He must resign."

Gutierrez said that a lot of people were approaching him at the Six Corners intersection about his creative sign.

"We just need to keep coming out protesting these race-based killings (by police) that are disproportionately affecting the black community, so until I see real change, I'll keep coming out here," the Romeoville resident said.

Joliet Central High School social studies teacher Ernest Crim, who is also a published author and who ran as a write-in candidate for Joliet City Council in 2019, attended Friday's Black Lives Matter rally.

Crim wore his Colin Kaepernick San Francisco 49ers shirt to the protest.

In recent days, Crim has posted several lengthy videos on his Facebook page, reflecting on the George Floyd demonstrations as well as the controversy surrounding O'Dekirk's actions on Sunday night after Joliet police declared the Black Lives Matter rally at Jefferson and Larkin had turned into an unlawful assembly.

Crim told Joliet Patch he has watched and attended Joliet City Council meetings for three years now. At Six Corners, Crim made the following comments about O'Dekirk.

"He listens, but he does not pay attention," Crim said. "There has to be justice and equality before law and order, and he's a law and order mayor. I'm fully supportive of the pastors that are calling for him to step down."

Crim said he wants to draw more attention to the fact that nobody at the Joliet Police Department uses body cameras.

If body cameras were worn, there would not be any dispute about what really happened surrounding O'Dekirk's altercation, Crim said.

In addition to the Joliet Police Department body camera issue, Crim said the police need to enact more community-oriented policing across all five city council districts across Joliet, the state's third largest city.

Crim also believes that more of the Joliet Police Department's nearly 300 officers need to undergo "racial bias training" and "deescalation" techniques.

There are too many examples of Joliet police officers using force or becoming confrontational when interacting with residents, particularly black residents, Crim said.

"Get to know the people, go into the community more," Crim said.

All in all, Crim said Friday afternoon's rally was highly successful. "It's good people versus bad, everybody versus racists, no matter what your position is," Crim added.

Besides wearing his Colin Kaepernick shirt, Crim brought along a homemade sign that read: "ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE!"'

Some of Friday's most popular chants by the crowd were: "No justice, no peace. No racist police." Another popular chant was, "Say his name! George Floyd! Say his name! George Floyd! Say his name! George Floyd."

Crest Hill businesswoman Pat Perrier stood at Six Corners with her sign reading "EQUAL JUSTICE UNDER LAW." She was thrilled how energized and peaceful the crowd acted.

"Everyone's been mannerly. No one has been stopping traffic. I think we're doing quite nicely," she told Joliet Patch's editor. "It's really exciting about how many people are here. I think it's a great way to show our support because we can't experience what someone else has experienced.

"People are like it's us versus them, and it's not that at all. I own a business in Crest Hill and it's important to speak out."