(The Center Square) – Protest rallies continue to take place across Illinois following the death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minnesota.
A “Are We Next” rally took place Sunday in Peoria, and peaceful rallies were recently held in Pekin, Springfield, Crystal Lake and other cities.
On Monday, police officers from several central Illinois departments joined the Bloomington-Normal chapter of the NAACP at a unity rally.
Aaron Woodruff, police chief at Illinois State University, said his department is on the same page as the NAACP.
“The ten shared principles that our departments have already agreed on prior to this with the NAACP and we live up to those principles and the community needs to know that as well,” Woodruff said.
Woodruff also condemned the actions of the officers involved in the killing of Floyd.
Linda Foster, president of the Bloomington-Normal chapter of the NAACP, said it was a nice show of support from law enforcement.
“Thank you for these officers and these chiefs and the sheriff, and I know we don’t always agree, but we can agree to keep working on it,” Foster said.
A rally held last week did not go as smoothly as Monday’s event. Bloomington police chief Dan Donath spoke at a rally on May 31, but his comments were hard to hear by the large gathering with chants of “I can’t breathe,” a reference to words Floyd used while he was pinned to the ground.
Normal Police Chief Rick Bleichner and Woodruff had intended to speak at the rally, but organizers advised they step back after Donath’s remarks were drowned out.