Twenty to 30 people came to Joliet on Tuesday looking for U.S. Attorney John Lausch and calling for federal charges against former Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke.

The group demonstrated in a Joliet neighborhood where they suspected Lausch lives before being told by police he doesn’t live there.

They then went to a meeting of the Joliet City Council where several commented that they were from Chicago and came looking for Lausch to call for federal civil rights charges against Van Dyke as he is about to be released from prison after serving a portion of his sentence for the fatal on-duty shooting of Laquan McDonald.

Lausch, who heads the U.S. Attorney’s office in Chicago, grew up in Joliet. He has relations in Joliet, but resides elsewhere.

William Calloway, who fought to release police video of McDonald being shot 16 times and has been a leader in the call for federal charges, was among the group and mentioned a Lake Shore Drive address in Joliet as he urged Mayor Bob O’Dekirk and the council to “reach out to this resident.”

“We need you all to reach out to John Lausch and let him know that we were here today,” Calloway said.

There is a Lake Shore Drive in Joliet.

Joliet police were called to the intersection of Lake Shore Drive and Lake Shore Circle shortly after 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, police spokesman Dwayne English said. The intersection is inside the privately owned Townhomes on the Lake subdivision, which is located in the vicinity of the Louis Joliet Mall.

About 30 people had gathered on private property protesting the release of Van Dyke believing they were near Lausch’s residence, English said.

“Officers spoke with demonstrators advising them that they were mistaken,” English said. “The demonstrators then left the area with no issues.”

There were some issues at the council meeting, although the protesters generally followed meeting decorum while there.

About 20 people who appeared to be part of the same group showed up shortly after the meeting started at 6:30 p.m.

They sat quietly through the meeting until it was time for public comments. At that point, Joliet resident James Lanham, who had signed up to speak on another matter, was called to address the council. He was interrupted when one of the protesters began speaking loudly, apparently trying to find out when he would be allowed to comment.

O’Dekirk asked a police officer at the meeting to have the protester removed when he would not stop speaking. Officer Tony Lakota approached the protester when O’Dekirk announced there would be a five-minute recess.

Interim Police Chief Bob Brown then met with the protesters and discussed the situation.

“Just calm down,” Brown said at one point. “I want you to have your voices heard.”

When the meeting resumed, Lanham returned to make his comments.

He was followed by Nicole Lurry, the widow of Eric Lurry who died after being arrested by Joliet police in January 2020. Authorities determined that Lurry died from a self-ingested drug overdose. But his handling by police while in custody, which was depicted on squad car video, has been the subject of protests and a federal lawsuit against the city filed by Nicole Lurry.

Lurry said she has obtained a report from an investigation, contracted by the city, that shows other video of the incident from a camera outside the police station has been destroyed.

“Here I find out last week there was another video of my husband’s death,” Lurry said. “Have the officers arrested who did what they did.”

Lurry was followed by several speakers on the Van Dyke issue, some of whom also expressed support for her cause. Some also said they would be coming back, and one warned of potential disruptions action in the future.

“We shut down the Magnificent Mile. We shut down city council meetings,” said Clyde McLemore, who heads Black Lives Matter in Lake County. “You think we can’t shut down Joliet?”

The meeting proceeded to the council comments section, the last item on the agenda when the council members and the mayor comment on random subjects.

O’Dekirk was wrapping up the meeting when one of the protesters began speaking out. The mayor asked him not to interrupt. When the man kept talking, there was a motion to adjourn and the meeting ended.