Protesters demand Joliet mayor’s resignation near his law firm

Several protesters demanded the resignation of Joliet Mayor Bob O’Dekirk while they gathered near the downtown location of his law firm.

Two of the protesters tried to speak with O’Dekirk at the entrance of O’Dekirk, Allred & Associates, 58 E. Clinton St., Joliet, until they were turned away by a police officer.

After protesters waved signs at a street corner near the law firm, they traveled to Joliet City Hall and had a discussion about police reform with Inspector General Chris Regis in his office.

Several Joliet faith leaders, activists and Joliet City Councilwoman Bettye Gavin have called on O’Dekirk to resign after video surfaced online of him involved in a scuffle with Victor Williams and Jamal Smith during a demonstration May 31 to protest the death of George Floyd.

O’Dekirk claimed Williams, whom he grabbed, had pushed him and he had “the right to defend myself.”

Will County Progressives Chairwoman Suzanna Ibarra, one of the protesters, said the protest was held at O’Dekirk’s law firm because “this is where he makes his money.”

“We came here to try and make a point,” Ibarra said.

She said O’Dekirk “keeps putting his hands on young Black men.”

“He is not fit to serve,” she said.

Ibarra and another protester went to the fifth floor of the Clinton Street building to meet with O’Dekirk directly, but the door was locked and no one came to the front entrance to meet them.

A Joliet police officer arrived and went inside to speak with the law firm staff before returning to tell Ibarra and other protester they had to leave because they were on private property.

“They don’t want to talk to anybody here,” the officer said.

Ibarra and the other protester agreed to go back outside. The officer had a conversation with one of the protesters about their ideas for police reform.

Trista Brown, a protester, asked how O’Dekirk can work for a law firm and “break the law.”

“You are not beyond the law here,” she said.

Brown and the other protesters chanted that O’Dekirk “needs to be disbarred, charged and resigned.”

The protesters went to City Hall to meet with O’Dekirk but were told he was not in his office, Ibarra said. A few of them then went to visit with Regis to talk about their proposals for police reform.

Regis said few people stop by City Hall to speak about their issues.

“If everybody did that, everybody would understand each other a lot better, everybody would have good information instead of rumors and all the garbage and the mean-spirited things that fly around about everyone. That’s just not the way any of us needs to be,” Regis said.