Springfield, Illinois – A Springfield Police Officer has publicly responded, through Facebook, his opinion of recent block parties and house parties on the east side of Springfield. His response comes after Ward 2 Alderman Shawn Gregory says that law enforcement response has been unequal between downtown Springfield protestors and east side Springfield residents.
Gregory said Tuesday at the Committee of the Whole meeting that he did not support those who were partying against the Governor’s stay-at-home order, but also felt that there were two sets of rules, one for the east side residents and one for downtown protestors.
In response to Gregory’s public frustration, several council members also agreed that unequal treatment by the police department was being shown especially since a group of mostly white and out of town protesters were allowed to protest on city streets and given a police escort to the State Capitol and back without a permit. Instead of protests at the Capitol, many east side residents have also been hosting several house and block parties which has led to Springfield Police responding and breaking them up. In response to the house and block parties, Gregory said, “They do need to go home, but I mean they’re rebelling against the stay-at-home order like anybody else. They’re trying to stay out, they’re doing things that they’re not supposed to like anybody else and we just want to see the law apply equally.”
Springfield Police Officer Andrew Barnes disagrees with Gregory’s position of law enforcements response to the east side parties and said, “Shawn Gregory is a fucking idiot, hiding behind his computer. These crowds have accounted for 192 shots fired (3 days) and not counting the ones that were outside of the shot spotter, criminal damage, one subject shot, and multiple car crashes. We are only showing up when his constituents call us because they are blocking city streets with 50-100 cars. They have thrown objects at officers. So Shawn instead of criticizing the officers take you ass out side and witness these insane crowds. This is a public safety issue as emergency vehicles can not get down the roads in an emergency situation. P.S. weird he said that because no use of force, arrest or citations were issued. Please tell us Shawn how to do our jobs!”
Barnes also responded to Ward 3 Alderwoman Doris Turner’s public frustration of the unequal law enforcement and said, “We will send them all to Doris’ block to party. Done deal.”
We had the chance to speak with Officer Barnes regarding his Facebook status and he told us, “my front seat is always available for him to ride along and see first hand how these individuals in these parties are conducting themselves.”
