The Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office has cleared Aurora authorities in officers’ actions during a student walkout in February.
The decision comes days after the office of the county’s top prosecutor determined the same department was justified in the fatal police shooting of a 19-year-old Aurora man last year.
Mosser’s office announced Monday that a separate investigation cleared officers who clashed with protesters during a student walkout over ICE actions.
The office of the county’s top prosecutor opened an investigation after complaints about police conduct and the circulation of videos showing one officer appearing to take a protester down with a flying tackle.
During the walkout of about 1,500 students, three male juveniles were taken into custody for allegedly resisting an officer, obstructing and improper walking in the roadway, authorities said. One of the juveniles was charged with aggravated battery for punching an officer, police said.
“Officers acted within their scope of authority and did not engage in the use of excessive force,” Mosser’s office said in a release.
“Our office fully supports every person’s First Amendment right to peacefully protest, and the vast majority of this student demonstration was conducted safely and without incident,” Mosser said in the release. “However, that right does not extend to unlawful behavior that creates serious public safety risks.”
She said a “small number of participants chose to push the boundaries of the law by entering roadways, ignoring repeated lawful police orders to return to the sidewalk, and in some cases walking directly into oncoming traffic, endangering themselves and others. The responsibility of law enforcement in these moments is to ensure safety for everyone involved, and officers have the authority to issue lawful commands to prevent harm. Individuals are required to comply with those lawful orders, and they may not flee when an officer is attempting to detain them.”
Mosser described one incident at the rally in which an officer, on his way to assist other officers, “accidentally knocked into a third protester. The protester hit a tree, fell, and then got up and struck that officer in the head, resulting in a severe laceration to the officer’s head. The laceration required numerous staples to close while the officer was being treated at the hospital.”
The investigation found that officers “attempted for a significant amount of time to gain compliance” verbally from protesters who “were more brazen in their non-compliance.”
“Protesters, not officers, escalated the situation by walking in the road, disobeying orders to return to the sidewalk, and refusing to comply when detained,” the release stated. “Several protesters also acted in a disorderly and aggressive manner toward officers, including throwing objects at officers and their vehicles.”
Of the tackle shown on video, Mosser said: “This particular juvenile was one of two who were struggling physically with the sergeant. As this was occurring, more individuals were running toward the location. A physical tackle is an accepted tool used by members of law enforcement to gain physical submission from individuals that are fighting with officers or resisting arrest. In this case, the tackle was a reasonable tactic used by that officer to gain physical compliance from one of the resisting juveniles so that the sergeant could then gain physical compliance from the other resisting juvenile.
“The use of the tackle was not an excessive use of force given the facts and circumstances regarding this incident,” the statement continued.
Mosser thanks the community “for their patience as we conducted this review” and the Aurora Police Department “for their transparency and cooperation throughout this process.”