Groups from Mahomet, St. Joseph and Tolono met in Champaign on Sept. 19 to rally around area police officers.
The nearly two-hour event, featuring former Republican Senate candidate Peggy Hubbard, featured a few hundred people on the University of Illinois campus in the late morning hours.
“We all know what’s happening in this country right now,” Matt Stuckey said. “No matter what side of the aisle that you’re on, we all agree that there needs to be a change.
“It’s very vital that we stick together and build our communities up and not tear him down and come together to fix this. That’s the only way we’re going to stop having all this hate, violence and destruction.”
Stuckey said that he has talked to many law enforcement officers and first-responders throughout the county who just want to see their communities heal.
“Nobody wants hate,” he said. “I don’t care what the color of your skin is, whether you’re a Democrat or Republican. This community that’s here right now. And what we preach the entire time in this group is no hate, no violence. And let’s build that bridge together.”
Another catalyst for the rally was talk at recent Champaign Council meetings about cutting back on City of Champaign employees to meet revenue reductions.
“That’s huge because there goes money for programs and everything like that,” Stuckey said. “So we need to make sure that we can step up and help out in that way, too.”
The group circulated tins to collect money for parks and the Boys and Girls Club during the event.
Hubbard, a retired IRS agent, veteran and former police officer, who lost a primary bid to run as the Republican candidate against U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (Dem.) in March, said she would run again in two years for a chance to challenge the seat currently held by Democrat Tammy Duckworth.
Hubbard, a Harley enthusiast who is also the wife of a police officer in St. Louis, was with her husband in Sturgis when riots broke out in Ferguson, Mo., after Michael Brown, an 18-year-old unarmed black man, was fatally shot by a police officer in 2014.
Hubbard said that she “dropped him off and I didn’t see him for almost two weeks” when she met him at the hospital with a change of clothes and deodorant after having had “urine and feces” thrown at him.
In 2015, a social media post by Hubbard went viral when she made a video speaking to the Black community about violence within her hometown, Ferguson, and protesting police brutality.
On Aug. 18, 2015, 9-year old Jamyla Bolden, was killed in Ferguson when she was struck by a stray bullet from a drive-by shooting as she lay in her mother’s bed. The next night, police were executing a search warrant at the home of Mansur Ball-Bey, a young black man, in St. Louis. He and another man fled out the back door. Police accounts say that Ball-Bey pointed a gun towards police as he ran. The officers shot and killed Ball-Bey.
Hubbard called on communities, particularly in her hometown of Ferguson, to address the loss of life on their own streets and in their own homes.
Almost a year later, in July 2016, police knocked on Hubbard’s door around 12:30 a.m.
According to a July 2016 Fox 2 Report, Hubbard’s husband, Charles, was shot twice while trying to arrest 24-year old Jared Williams in Hillsdale in a routine traffic stop. A KSDK report said that Hubbard was able to shoot back at Williams “grazing” him.
A July 4, 2016 report from the St. Louis Dispatch said that Williams was charged with first-degree assault on a law enforcement officer, armed criminal action, first-degree endangering the welfare of a child and resisting arrest for a felony.
“Nobody, no wife or husband or mother or father, want that knock,” she said. “I got that knock.
“The police came to my house and said, ‘We’re sorry to inform you…’ I fell to my knees. And my daughter told me I let out a scream she’s never heard before. And they could not tell me anything but he was critical and not conscious.
“Everything is going through my head; my world is over. I’ve been with this man and known him since he was 7.”
Both Williams and Charles Hubbard were treated in the hospital for non-life threatening injuries, according to the St. Louis Post. An infant, who was in Williams’ car, was not injured, according to the same report.
Recently, Hubbard lost her friend, Retired St. Louis Police captain David Dorn, who was fatally shot on Aug. 25 during looting in St. Louis, according to CNN.
“When we send our spouses, our sons and daughters out to serve our community, we expect them to come back in the condition we sent them out,” she said.
It’s a feeling that Mahomet’s Kris Rath knows well. The wife of a law enforcement officer, Rath said that her heart is heavy right now.
“To other law enforcement officers, spouses, significant others, parents, siblings, children and families, I see you,” she said. “If you’re using your voice, I hear you. If you’ve chosen to stay in the background, I know your heart. And if you’re struggling, I’m with you and supporting you. If you have good days, I am celebrating with you.”
Having experienced a life where her husband just wants to go to work and come home like any other American, she knows what it’s like to have birthday parties and dates or holidays rearranged so that the officer can go investigate a homicide or has to work overtime.
“Our families make sacrifices that no one will ever understand, including the sacrifice of sending our officers into the streets to protect and serve everyone, knowing full well that today may be the day they don’t come home to us,” she said. “The next time we may see them is right before they’re placed in a flag-draped casket.”
Being on the inside, looking out, Rath wishes that people could see police officers the way she does.
“Good officers exercise their authority to enforce the law in a responsible manner,” she said. “Good officers protect entire communities full of innocent people from criminals and evil. Good officers want to see and help people succeed.
“They’re the ones that have been working tirelessly to keep our society relatively peaceful. With all of the great deeds our officers accomplished for the benefit of someone other than themselves, and all of the selfless individual actions they’ve taken to make someone else’s life better, they bear physical and mental scars that may never fade over time.”
Hubbard said that instead of defunding police, the focus should be on defunding politicians.
“Why don’t we take away their security?” she asked. “Why don’t we take away their officers? Let’s see how well they fare out there without protection.”
Hubbard told the crowd that in her next run for a seat in the U.S. Senate, she would focus on law enforcement. She also called to make injuring or killing a police officer a federal crime.
“I’m going to write the David Dorn Law and the Nick Hopkins Law, because both of those guys were my friends that I lost,” Hubbard said. “I want to make it a federal hate crime. If you injure, kill a police officer, you better think twice. Because if I can’t stick a needle in your arm, if I cannot put you in an electric chair, then I’m going to make damn sure you never see the light of day.”
Hubbard spoke about rising crime rates in Chicago. According to the Chicago Tribune, 3,132 people have been shot in Chicago in 2020, 1,033 more than in 2019.
During the 24-hour period from May 29-June 1, 2020, 25 people were killed in the city, with another 85 wounded by gunfire in Chicago, according to data maintained by the Chicago Sun-Times. According to the University of Chicago Crime Lab, that is Chicago’s most violent day since 1961.
The Daily reached out to Hubbard to seek clarification about the statistics she presented at the Back the Blue rally, and did not receive a response.
Some of the stats Hubbard used during her speech are similar to what Charlie Kirk, founder of the Republican conservative group Turning Point USA has used in recent months.
In an Instagram video, Kirk stated that police killed 19 unarmed white people in 2019 and eight (Hubbard said nine) unarmed Black people. The video has since been removed citing “False Information” after being reviewed by independent fact-checkers.
Kirk was using data compiled by the Washington Post, which contains every fatal shooting by a police officer while working dating back to 2015, to argue that systemic racism does not exist, according to USA Today. The Post’s data actually states that police fatally shot 13 unarmed black men in 2019.
In 2015, 38 unarmed Black people and 32 unarmed white people were killed by law enforcement, according to the Post’s data.
Relying on data primarily from news accounts, social media postings and police reports, the Post only records shootings, not other uses of force, such as tasering or beatings, for example.
The Posts’ work also states, “Although half of the people shot and killed by police are White, Black Americans are shot at a disproportionate rate. They account for less than 13 percent of the U.S. population but are killed by police at more than twice the rate of White Americans. Hispanic Americans are also killed by police at a disproportionate rate.”
Civilian deaths while in the hands of law enforcement have increased since 2017, according to statistica.com. In 2017, 987 people were killed by a police officer while working and in 2019, 1,006 people were killed by police officers.
According to the FBI, 89 law enforcement officers were killed in line-of-duty incidents in 2019, 44 were killed by firearms. That number was down from 2018 when 106 law enforcement officers were killed, 51 by firearms.
Hubbard used rising crime rates in Chicago to talk about growing unrest in the United States. She believes President Trump’s commitment to fund law enforcement will give them the tools they need to both take care of the community and fight crime. She also believes that President Trump is trying to remove the targets from police officers’ backs.
Like in many parts of the nation, to what amount law enforcement is being funded is currently an ongoing issue in Chicago where six aldermen are pressing the city to cut the police—approximately $1.8 billion in 2020—to reallocate funds to public programming that may reduce crime, according to the Chicago Tribune.
According to Block Club Chicago, “the aldermen said ‘defunding’ the police in their view does not mean eliminating the entire department, but shifting some of the massive budget to things that would reduce crime and improve communities.”
Chicago has the second-largest police department in the U.S. with more than 13,000 officers.
The Tribune reports that Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot began talking about cuts to the Chicago Police Department in Sept. as the city faces an $800 million budget deficit in 2020.
Lightfoot said the city should consider slowing down the replacement of retired Chicago police officers or leaving some positions unfilled next year to reduce the Police Department’s massive personnel budget, according to the Tribune.
In 2016, former Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s pushed to hire 1,000 more officers, detectives and supervisors to combat violent crime.
Hubbard fears that if police officers, who fear public scrutiny and retribution, walk away from the profession, that America “would not have any resemblance of a nation.”
Hubbard postponed her trip to Bikefest at Lake of the Ozarks to come to Champaign-Urbana to stand with those who wanted to support police officers, military and veterans.
“They stand in front of us every day. We’re supposed to stand up in front of them,” she said. “They need us right now.
“They need us more than ever. If you see a police officer, a sheriff’s deputy, an EMT worker, a firefighter, walk up to them and just extend your hand and say ‘thank you’. It goes a long way.”
Hubbard recognized the work that police officers do each year by responding to child abuse, domestic disturbances and other crimes.
A 2020 New York Times study showed that officers in New Orleans, Montgomery County in Md., and in Sacramento spend between 32- to 37-percent of their resources responding to non-criminal calls; between 13- and 19-percent of time dealing with traffic issues; between 12- and 14-percent of time on property crime, 7- to 15-percent of time on “other crime;” 6- to 9-percent of time on medical calls; 4 percent of time on violent crime; and between 7- and 18-percent of their time being proactive.
Speaker Jon Rector, a Champaign County Board member, said, “Every day police officers are the force that stand between law and order and they safeguard us against chaos and disorder. They put themselves on the frontlines of perilous situations, all in the name of protecting the communities they serve. That’s not a job that many people sign up for.
“And it’s sad that there are many that just ignore this. Police officers do the dirty work we don’t want to do.
“Would you ever willingly confront an individual under the influence of drugs? Or alcohol outside your building, threatening you? How about someone outside your business who just threw a brick through your window or may not have a weapon? Remember 911 and how many first responders we lost that day.
“Whenever they’re called on for help, you will see them run to not run from.”
Of the 2,977 victims killed in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, 412 were emergency workers who responded to the World Trade Center disaster.
Hubbard encouraged rally-goers, who also came from Indiana, Wisconsin and Iowa, to vote on Election Day, and not by mail.
“You all out here better be marching your butts into those voting booths,” she said. “We’re not voting by mail. If I can go to Walmart, you can go into the booth and vote.
“When I see that flag with the blue line, that’s my heart. That’s my husband when I look at him. That’s your son. That’s your daughter. That’s your husband. That’s your wife. That’s your uncle. That’s your grandfather.
“That’s everything that makes America great. We’re going to continue that. We’re going to keep fighting. We’re going to push back.”
St. Joseph’s Tim Voges was one of those officers Hubbard spoke of. Voges worked for the Champaign County Sheriff’s Office for 27 years.
“Thank you to all the current police officers and retirees that are out there right now,” he said. “Thank you for what you do on a daily basis. Thank the families for allowing their husbands and wives to go out every day and protect our community.
“It’s an awesome responsibility. It’s not taken lightly. And you have a great police force in Champaign County with all of the agencies that work well together.”
Voges was still shaken up after watching two Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies being shot while in their patrol car in Compton on Sept. 12.
Anti-police protesters came to the hospital where the two officers who were shot in the face were being treated chanting, “we hope they die.”
Voges said “they’re a different class of people that go out there and actually celebrate a life being lost or shot.”
He also spoke in favor of two boys from the Little Miami High School football team in Ohio who were suspended after they carried a Thin Blue Line and Thin Red Line American flag onto the football field on Sept. 11.
A Local 12 report stated Brady Williams, a senior cornerback said he and teammate Jarad Bentley wanted to honor the fallen heroes of 9-11.
“I think that’s just disheartening,” he said.
Voges acknowledged the passion that Stuckey has for law enforcement, putting so much time into bringing people together.
“This guy is absolutely amazing,” Voges said. “I can’t say enough about him. His heart’s in the right spot. He’s truly trying to bring our community together. There’s no divisiveness here. We’re willing to have conversations with anybody who doesn’t agree with us.”
He invited anyone who doesn’t agree with them to the table for a conversation focused on coming up with conclusions.
During her speech, Rath said that any response, whether online or in-person, is the rally goer’s responsibility.
“We cannot and will not jeopardize the important work we are accomplishing for officers across this country just to blow off steam and vent.” she said.
“Please join me in being a bridge-builder. Bridge-builders aren’t meant to take care of only the law enforcement; community bridge-builders roll up their sleeves and actively care for their communities they live in as well.
“And as community members and bridge-builders, we’re all able to help facilitate great interactions and conversations by showing we aren’t all so different after all. I’m counting on all of you to do your part responsibly with care and the knowledge that this is a marathon. It’s not a sprint.”
Rath stayed after the rally, spending a couple of hours with two Black college students so that they could understand each other better.
The Back the Blue Champaign County group made a $500 donation to the Chaz McCrone Memorial Firefighter Fund as their first step towards action to make the community better.
McCrone, a resident of Pesotum, died at age 46 on Aug. 14, 2018. He was a founding member of the Blue Crew Motorcycle Club and served as captain and EMT of the Pesotum Fire Department.
The Legion of St. Michael presented the check at the end of the rally. The Legion, consisting of former law enforcement, firefighters and Veterans escorted groups from Mahomet, St. Joseph and Tolono and stood with the speakers at the foot of the stage throughout the rally.
