Springfield, Illinois – Springfield Police Officer, Robert Fleck, went on Springfield Leaks’ Facebook page to post a status regarding Ward 2 Alderman, Shawn Gregory’s conduct at Springfield City Tournament.
In Officer Fleck’s Facebook status, which has now been deleted for unknown reasons, he said, “So Shawn Gregory, did you enjoy the City Tourney? Did you have a good time? Have any problems getting in? If so, maybe go to a Police Officer for help next time…Isn’t it crazy how those darn kids say disrespectful things? You’d never do anything like that because you’re a ROLE MODEL, right? Thank God you are better than them! Oh wait…YOU’RE NOT! Maybe there should be a policy about Aldermen conduct.”
Ward 2 Alderman Gregory, said in response, “lmao first of all you dont know what your talking about and 2nd if you support trump you support trump have a gn.”
According to multiple sources, they have confirmed to us that Ald. Gregory and an SPD Officer got into a verbal altercation at the City Basketball Tournament. Multiple sources did confirm that there is body cam video of the verbal altercation.
It is not clear on how the verbal altercation started or what was said in the verbal altercation between the Officer and Ald. Gregory, so on Thursday, January, 30, 2020, we submitted a Freedom of Information Request (FOIA) to get a copy of the body cam footage. The next day, at 8:41 a.m., the Springfield Police Department responded to our FOIA Request. “YOUR REQUEST FOR THE BODY CAM FOOTAGE FOR AN INCIDENT REGARDING A CITY COUNCIL MEMBER AT THE CITY TOURNAMENT GAME AT BOS CENTER IS DENIED IN FULL PURSUANT TO 5 ILCS 140/7(1)(A) THE LAW ENFORCEMENT BODY WORN CAMERA ACT. THE REQUESTED VIDEOS HAVE NOT BEEN FLAGGED DUE TO FILING OF A COMPLAINT, DISCHARGE OF A FIREARM, USE OF FORCE, ARREST OR DETENTION, OR RESULTING DEATH OR GREAT BODILY HARM AND YOU ARE NOT THE SUBJECT OF THE VIDEO CAPTURED INTERACTING WITH OFFICERS.”
Now that the Springfield Police Department has acknowledged that Body Cam footage exist, we sent an email to the Springfield Police Department for them to escalate the denial of our FOIA Request to their legal department for further review.
Stay tuned for further updates to this story.