Lurry protesters go to Joliet City Council; attorney general said to be on the case

Protesters over the death of Eric Lurry went to the Joliet City Council on Tuesday, contending they are unjustly arrested at protests and continuing to blame police for Lurry's death.

Mayor Bob O'Dekirk and council members did not respond after hearing more than an hour of public comments that included the mayor being called "a thug" and council members being told they all should resign.

But they did discuss the matter before the public comments.

Interim City Manager Steve Jones told the council that the Illinois Attorney General's Office has been investigating the case "and we expect to hear from them shortly," which appeared to surprise O'Dekirk who had called for the investigation.

Protesters told the council that they will continue their demonstrations and objected to treatment by police.

"We will not allow Joliet citizens to be intimidated and harassed by the same individuals who are sworn to serve and protect," said Tanya Avila, who said she was among several people arrested Sunday outside the Joliet police station.

Some arrests have been made while protesters have been in public streets, although police also have even blocked traffic at such times and not made arrests.

Stringer Harris, who described himself as a "national community activist" working on behalf of the Lurry family, said protesters have a right to be in streets, sidewalks and public parks.

"I understand you don't want to impede traffic," Harris told the council. "If you look all over the world, in Germany they're taking over bridges. They're shutting sh..., excuse me, they're shutting things down."

Some of the speakers called for investigations of Jones and Police Chief Al Roechner, both of whom O'Dekirk has criticized publicly for their handling of the matter.

But the mayor did not escape criticism as a few protesters pointed to his own involvement in a scuffle with protesters at a Black Lives Matter rally on May 31, which has been turned over to Illinois State Police for investigation.

Ernest Crim, a Joliet high school teacher who has joined the Lurry protests, accused O'Dekirk of political motives in the matter because of a "squabble with the (police) chief" and criticized the mayor's own past conduct as a Joliet police officer.

"You're a criminal," Crim said to O'Dekirk. "You're a thug, and you're the reason this stuff happens."

O'Dekirk wrote a letter to the Illinois Attorney General Office on June 25 asking for an investigation into the Lurry matter. But he appeared surprised after Jones commented that the investigation may be close to wrapping up.

"The Illinois Attorney General does have the case," Jones told the council. "They have seen the materials, and we expect to hear from them shortly."

"Nobody told me my letter was being answered," O'Dekirk said later. He then accused Jones and Roechner of providing "misinformation" to the council.

Councilman Terry Morris asked who has been providing information to the attorney general's office.

Interim City Attorney Sabrina Spano told the council that the city has been supplying information on the matter since July 7.

Jones brought up the Lurry case in reference to the police department's own internal investigation into how police handled the matter.

The case has already been reviewed by the Will-Grundy Major Crimes Task Force, which concluded that Joliet police were not criminally culpable in Lurry's death. But the police department still needs to do an internal investigation into whether there were policy violations.

City Hall is so divided over the matter that the city plans to call in an outside law firm to do the internal investigation rather than leave it in the hands of the police.

Just who chooses the outside firm or agency also is disputed.

"It's imperative that anyone we choose to be objective and from the outside be objective and from the outside," Councilman Larry Hug told Jones. "It can't come from the chief or yourself."

Hug also said he wants an investigation to look into whether any video was retained from cameras outside the Joliet police station where Lurry was taken out of a police squad car and transported to the hospital by ambulance after his arrest on Jan. 28.

"We're told those videos were not preserved and no longer exist," Hug said

Lurry's death is officially reported as Jan. 29 after he was taken to the hospital. The Will County Coroner's office has determined he died from a lethal ingestion of a mixture of heroin, cocaine and fentanyl that police say he ingested while concealing the drugs in his mouth.

His family and others contend it was his treatment by police that killed Lurry.

.