Mayor Says Protest Organized By Democratic Leader Is 'Reckless'

BOLINGBROOK, IL — The Village of Bolingbrook released a video Monday updating residents about protests condemning the death of George Floyd, who was killed by a police officer in Minneapolis May 25 when he knelt on Floyd's neck in an attempt to arrest him.

"What happened in Minnesota is nothing short of tragic and it is so appropriate that the officer has been charged with murder," Mayor Roger Claar said in the video. "The other three officers involved hopefully will be charged too as an accomplice in some way, shape or form."

He said that his heart goes out to Floyd's family because "black lives do matter, not only in Bolingbrook, but across America."

Claar said he has experienced a bevy of emotions in the past 36 hours while observing everything that has happened in Chicago and the suburbs. He assures people that the Bolingbrook police are well trained and have been forbidden to use the technique that was used in Minneapolis.

He said the reason for the video was to inform everyone that the village is prepared for anything beyond a peaceful protest. In relation to that, he mentioned a Facebook post that was forwarded to him Sunday morning, where Jackie Traynere (D-Bolingbrook) had posted about a protest she had scheduled "about what's going on in America, saying they wanted a peaceful protest to show how it's done," he said.

The protest set to start at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday would have met near the Bolingbrook Promenade shopping center. According to Claar, this was organized without prior permission of the village officials or the police department. He also said the protest was to take place during rush hour, and Traynere did not confer with Promenade management.

Traynere posted on Facebook that she was forced to cancel the protest.

"Clearly some believe I was the wrong person to share this event/message, many will be disappointed," she said in the post.

She also said:

"The idea of it was good, but not for political reasons, but in spite of them. People in our community are hurting, and they want to do something to show that. The people that know me know this, for those of you that don't, well haters gonna hate and I can't stop that. We must not let another George Floyd happen, anywhere. We need to address this head on. It's getting to easy to just say oh well. It needs the light of justice shown on it, and we are the people that have to make that happen, no one else will."

Claar said even though Traynere publicly canceled the protest, the original post was widely shared, and he is concerned about those who might attend the protest. But he is even more concerned about those that work in the surrounding areas and will be forced to leave work early — losing wages or possibly even their jobs — as businesses shut down in fear of the unrest.

"We were all excited last Friday with the opening of Phase 3, returning people to work, and now this reckless protest was scheduled," he said.

Bolingbrook public safety director Ken Teppel said in light of the public protests that "have turned criminal," there are now more police officers in the village, and officials are being vigilant and monitoring the situation.

"I absolutely believe in the rights given to our citizens," he said. "The right to congregate, the right of free speech. But once that turns criminal, that's when my tolerance stops."

Teppel said the village is not asking businesses to shut down early and he is not aware of any credible threats targeting businesses. But if individual businesses want to shut down to ensure safety of its employees or to follow corporate directives, then they can do that.

"As of now we do not have any business curfews in place," he said.

Watch the full video here.