Bloomington-Normal's police chiefs and Black leaders are responding to the police beating of Tyre Nichols, as cities across the country prepare for the public's response to the brutal incident.
Jim Mone / AP
Black leaders in Bloomington-Normal hope justice will be served in the Derek Chauvin murder trial, with the head of the NAACP issuing a call against violence after the verdict is announced, while a leader with Black Lives Matter said focusing on looting misses the point.
Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer, faces murder and manslaughter charges for the killing of George Floyd last summer. His death helped spark a racial justice movement across the country last year.
Police nationwide are bracing for more civil unrest after the Chauvin verdict is announced.
A leader with Black Lives Matter Bloomington-Normal stops short of condemning any violence that could result if the verdict sparks outrage.
Emily Bollinger
During Tuesday’s debate between Normal Mayor Chris Koos and challenger Marc Tiritilli, the two candidates found themselves in a familiar place: The upcoming April 6 election marks the second time they ve faced off.
Back in 2017, Koos won his fourth term by just 11 votes over Tiritilli, who works at Illinois Wesleyan University.
But this year, besides the usual issues facing municipalities such as leadership on financial matters and economic development issues the candidates also are in a microcosm of a U.S. political landscape scarred by a divisive presidential election, the COVID-19 pandemic and a society facing a long history of police brutality.
FILE PHOTO: AMY NIEBUR / WGLT
With law enforcement and civil rights groups at odds over qualified immunity protections in Illinois, the McLean County Board Justice Committee on Tuesday was set to consider a resolution to reinforce the police position.
Qualified immunity shields police officers from civil lawsuits where plaintiffs claim their rights were violated. Those protections have attracted scrutiny in the wake of high-profile episodes of police violence. Initially, state lawmakers sought to end qualified immunity as part of a broader criminal justice reform package. But that was stripped from the package before it passed. Instead, a commission will be created to study the issue.
Emily Bollinger / WGLT
COVID vaccines are still in limited supply, but health officials fear many people still won t get a shot when it s available.
McLean County health officials have focused on one segment of the population that may be hardest to reach, a group that has a complicated past with the health care system.
Felicia Shaw
Felicia Shaw of Bloomington is skeptical about the COVID vaccine. She traces much of that back to the Trump administration.
“Our former president, number 45, unfortunately put so much misinformation out there that it s made it hard to know if people are telling the truth,” Shaw said.