The St. Joseph board voted to pull the Village from WCIA’s “Our Town” spotlight on Tuesday.
WCIA designates a week to small towns in East Central Illinois each summer, highlighting festivals, businesses and the culture of the community.
The board received over 50 emails saying that community members did not want to be associated with WCIA after the station ran a story on Darion Marquise Lafayette, 24, of Champaign, who shot and killed Champaign Police Department officer Chris Oberheim on May 19. Officer Jeffrey Creel was also shot and injured by Lafayette.
Officer Matt Silver spoke to the board Tuesday night.
“It is going to be a hard no,” Silver said. “If anyone doesn’t vote no, shame on you.”
“They (WCIA) are not welcome in this community and they shouldn’t be ever again. Chris was a hero and he died a hero. He was a great mentor for me personally and shame on WCIA for piss-poor judgment.”
Several other community members spoke, stating that St. Joseph is a community that loves and supports law enforcement.
Abby McDonald, the wife of a law enforcement officer, said that her husband leaves their family to make sure that others in the community are protected.
“I know that this may seem like a small thing from people on the outside, but our law enforcement families feel like we’ve been under attack for a long time. For our community to stand up for us in such a small way, it means so much that we are in a place where we’re supported.”
Although the Village board did not vote to have WCIA cover their town in “Our Town” during August, the board voted to tell the news organization not to come.
Dan Davis, a volunteer firefighter with the Stanton Fire Protection District that serves St. Joseph made the motion to decline the “Our Town” event. Terri Cummings gave a second.
Davis said he wanted to take a roll call vote instead of a straw vote to “take a stand.”
The motion passed unanimously.
In an email interview, Mayor Tami Fruhling-Voges said, “Having a story and picture of the person who murdered one police officer and attempted to murder another as if that person was some kind of saint was over the top unprofessional. The young lady who presented the story and station manager have yet to apologize. So far no one that I have spoken to is anywhere close to being satisfied in WCIA’s response to the incident.”
She continued her sentiments at the board meeting Tuesday night.
“This cannot be in vain. Right now this is very, very raw for a lot of us. With law enforcement we are family. It is a different breed. It is a different lifestyle.”
“By canceling this event we are sending the message that we stand behind our police officers,” she continued.
SJO Daily reached out to WCIA3 for comment, but has not heard back.
The City of St. Joseph has announced that it supports all policemen who kill Black and Non-White people with impunity. Like Derek Chauvin, the thug with a badge who murdered George Floyd in cold blood in Minneapolis.
Supremacy of the police is a hallmark of fascism.