Pastors Demand Resignation of Joliet Mayor Bob O'Dekirk

JOLIET, IL — A press conference called to address violence in the community is not a place where you would expect a speaker to request a round of applause for the police chief, but that's what happened Wednesday in Joliet. After reading from a prepared statement that Bishop Steve Evans, Pastor Warren C. Dorris and Rev. Hebert Brooks prepared, Dorris expressed gratitude to Joliet Police Chief Al Roechner for his handling of reports of a video showing two officers throwing a handcuffed man to the ground, as well as video of Mayor Bob O'Dekirk grabbing a protester.

“We want to give credit to our Joliet police chief who, when he saw...both videos, has started an internal investigation on the actions of police on that night,” he said. “We appreciate our police chief for doing that.”

Roechner was then given a round of applause.

Dorris is pastor of Prayer Tower Ministries Church of God in Christ and was a Joliet city councilman for 24 years.

In one video, O'Dekirk — who was not invited to Wednesday's press conference — is seen pushing a black protester to the ground. Will County State's Attorney Jim Glasgow requested that investigation of the incident be turned over to Illinois State Police.

“A video surfaced that showed the mayor attacking one of the demonstrators as they were being asked to leave and go home,” Dorris read from a written statement. “In the video, it is very clear that our Mayor was the aggressor in this incident.”

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Dorris said that although O’Dekirk used to be a Joliet police officer, he is no longer, and was in plain clothes and walking among other protesters prior to the incident.

Evans said it would have been difficult to know in that context that it was the mayor.

“If he came and told me I had to leave, my answer would be, 'Who are you?'” he said.

Evans believes that it is the job of the mayor to be the voice of reason, peace and calm.

"I think that the most powerful man in this city should always be the voice of reason, the voice of calm and one who is pushing for peace and not violence or vandalism," Evans said in an interview before the press conference. "This situation could have escalated to the point where we are still mopping up blood and picking up bodies."

O’Dekirk was a police officer beginning in 1993 and was with the department under 10 years. He was elected to Joliet City Council in 2011 and elected Joliet mayor in 2015.

Prior to the beginning of the press conference, Joliet resident Loretta Hobbs, who has organized a number of peaceful protests in Joliet, said she also is calling for his resignation.

“If you want to be a police officer, resign your position and become a police officer,” she said before the conference began.

In addition to calling for the resignation of O’Dekirk, Dorris, Evans and Brooks say charges against two men seen in the video — 23-year-old Victor Williams of Lockport, and his brother Jamal Smith, 28, of Crest Hill — be dropped.

Evans said that if it was him who had done what O’Dekirk is seen doing on video, that he would have been arrested.

“Why are you not trying to raise bond money, you broke the law,” he said of O’Dekirk. “At this point, I don’t think an apology is sufficient.”

Hobbs, who also spoke at the press conference, agreed.

“The mayor is no longer a police officer and he should be arrested for assault,” Hobbs said. “I challenge the city council to take a vote of having no confidence against this mayor.”

Roechner said in an interview after the press conference that O’Dekirk did not inform him that he was going to be in attendance at the protest on Sunday night.

“He never made contact with me, he just went out on his own,” he said.

Patch has left a message with O'Dekirk seeking comment on calls for his resignation.