April 25, 2024
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Rev. Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow PUSH will rally in Peru for Jelani Day (updated)

Coalition is pushing for state officials to get involved

By Derek Barichello
The Rev. Jesse Jackson listens as President Joe Biden promotes his "Build Back Better" campaign at McHenry County College on Wednesday, July 7, 2021 in Crystal Lake.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson listens as President Joe Biden promotes his "Build Back Better" campaign at McHenry County College on Wednesday, July 7, 2021 in Crystal Lake. His Civil Rights group the Rainbow PUSH coalition has scheduled a march for Jelani Day on Tuesday, Oct. 26, in Peru. (Matthew Apgar)

The Rainbow PUSH Coalition Civil Rights advocacy group led by the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. is scheduling a “March for Jelani Day” at noon Tuesday in Peru, city officials confirmed Friday.

Police Chief Robert Pyszka issued a press release Friday morning. In it, Pyszka said he and Mayor Ken Kolowski have been in touch with Jackson and “we are currently working out the logistics for a peaceful march.”

“Rev. Jackson said this peaceful march is not a march on the City of Peru but in the City of Peru,” the press release stated, “and the purpose of this march is to give the Day family some sort of closure.”

Pyszka added, “I look forward to working with Rev. Jackson and his team on this peaceful march and the Peru Police Department will assist them in any way we can and hopefully this will give the family some closure which not only the Day family but all families need when a loved one has passed away.”

Day was buried last week in Danville and Tuesday several black leaders and church officials gathered at Grove Street Church of God in Christ in Champaign calling for Gov. JB Pritzker’s office and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office to get involved.

Day, 25, an Illinois State University graduate student, was identified as the body found dead Sept. 4 in the Illinois River near the Route 251 bridge in Peru. Day, who was reported missing Aug. 25, was identified through forensic dental identification and DNA testing and comparison. Day’s vehicle was found Aug. 26 concealed in a wooded area near the Illinois Valley YMCA in Peru. Other items such as his wallet and an ISU lanyard also have been reported found in the La Salle-Peru area.

Day’s family has been critical of the investigation, and they have hired their own private investigator and had an independent autopsy conducted.

La Salle County Sheriff Adam Diss has said investigators from the multi-jurisdictional unit “meet and work every day following up on any leads available and trying to comb through hundreds of hours of video.”

The Multi-Jurisdictional Investigative Unit consists of members from the La Salle County Sheriff’s Office; Peru, La Salle and Bloomington police departments, Illinois State Police, La Salle County Coroner’s Office, and FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit.

The public is asked to assist investigators with any tips or information by calling 815-433-2161.