United against police brutality: Police in Normal lead local rally

Posted on June 19, 2020
Officers from Normal, ISU, and State Police walked side by side with members of their community. (Photo courtesy HOI ABC)

 

By HOI ABC

NORMAL – United against police brutality. That was the message behind the rally organized by the Normal Police Department on Thursday. Making it clear that there is no place for the actions that occurred against George Floyd in their community.

Our news partner HOI ABC reports officers from Normal, ISU, and State Police walked side by side with members of their community.

Showing a banner filled with signatures, they said they are committed to transparency and accountability.

“We don’t want to have the us versus them, we’re all in this together and that’s why we’re here today to work on coming to a common goal.” said Officer Brad Park, the community services officer

The Officer who organized the rally, Officer Jasmine Johnson, said with everything going on, being a police officer and a person of color, has sometimes been uncomfortable, but she knew she had to use her position to start important conversations.

“In light of everything going on it just honestly made me realize my position even more. I’m able to understand two different perspectives and that’s why I feel like it’s important for me to be able to articulate how I feel when it comes to these incidents because I do understand from two different perspectives.” Officer Johnson

Those are talks the Mayor said he knows are necessary.

“As a community as a whole, who are we, what are our values, what will we tolerate, what will we not tolerate, I think we need to have that conversation,” said Mayor Chris Koos.

One community member who attended the rally said both officers and the public need to use this time to educate themselves on the past so we can look for a better future.

“I’m encouraged. I think now more than anything in my 42 years in life I’ve seen more eyes opened then I’ve ever seen before. I believe this is going to continue on. We’re in a new civil rights movement right now and I think it’s going to be some time before we get past this. We’ve got a lot of work to do.” said Normal resident Isaac Akins.

WJBC News can be reached at [email protected]

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