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By Heart of Illinois ABC
BLOOMINGTON – About 100 demonstrators rallied Monday evening outside the McLean County Jail, and a Bloomington city council member was more than just a spectator.
Ward 6 council member Jenn Carrillo used her car to block traffic near the corner of Madison and Olive. That’s where protesters called for the release of non-violent inmates awaiting trial so they’re no longer exposed to a COVID-19 outbreak at the jail.
Carrillo said McLean County Sheriff’s Police ticketed her for blocking traffic. She said her action was necessary for protesters’ safety. Carrillo referred to a previous march at the jail on June 1 when a Bloomington man allegedly drove his motorcycle through a crowd of demonstrators and was charged with hate crimes. Two people were hurt, and of them was hospitalized.
Carrillo criticized sheriff’s police for not providing traffic control Monday night to protect the demonstrators.
“I brought my car up to make sure no motorcycle and no motorist was going to plow through this crowd, which has happened in Champaign and here. Instead of saying “Oh, we’ll take care of that, Alderwoman, get out of the way,” they decided to ticket me,” Carrillo told our news partner Heart of Illinois ABC.
The latest rally happened on the same day McLean County Sheriff Jon Sandage confirmed two more inmates and two employees tested positive for the COVID-19 infection, bringing the total number of cases there to five.
The local chapter of Black Lives Matter and Next Gen Initiative organized Monday evening’s event. They said the jail is unsafe because of the virus outbreak, and inmates who can’t afford to post bail have stay there.
“In Illinois there are people who have already died from COVID in jail and we don’t want that to happen here in McLean County,” explained organizer Olivia Butts.
They’re also demanding the sheriff and the county board stop charging inmates and their families for video and phone conferences that replaced in-person visitation.
Heart of Illinois ABC can be reached at [email protected].