St. Clair County official called ‘hypocrite’ for part in Tennessee wrestling match
Herb Simmons says if he was hiding something or thought that what he had done would jeopardize his credibility as St. Clair County’s emergency management director, he wouldn’t have shared video of it on social media.
But Simmons this week is being criticized for taking part in a professional wrestling promotion in Jackson, Tennessee, where spectators were seated in tight proximity to each other without a coronavirus-blocking face covering in sight.
He even absorbed a few blows from angry wrestlers Attila Khan and Travis Cook, who couldn’t pound on the long-time promoter without breaching CDC recommendations for social distancing.
“I shared it. People wouldn’t have even known about it if I hadn’t,” Simmons said of the video that has attracted scrutiny. “If I was doing something wrong would I have shared it?”
In addition to his duties managing the county’s emergency response and as mayor of East Carondelet, Simmons has worked in pro wrestling for nearly 50 years. He was in Tennessee to participate in a USA Championship Wrestling event Oct. 24, which was recorded and posted to YouTube.
In it, Simmons takes the microphone with the ring and spectators at his back. As he spoke about COVID-19 and how the virus has upended the schedule of events before two wrestlers from the evening’s card stormed the stage and begin beating on Simmons as the crowd applauded.
In a video from earlier October, Simmons is seen in another skit where he strips two wrestlers of their title belts while he’s surrounded by a sizable group of others.
The videos made the social media rounds and were shared through emails and private messages to the Belleville News-Democrat.
Simmons participates in a daily live-streamed COVID-19 update in which St. Clair County officials deliver the latest statistics and other related news. Simmons frequently uses the update to urge residents to wear masks in public and to adhere to state-imposed mitigations. He’s also chastised other surrounding counties in Metro-East Region 4 who have not maintained the kind of testing positivity rates that would prevent firmer restrictions on businesses.
To county resident Teddy Sells, the videos of Simmons at the wrestling are an insult to area businesses that are struggling with the mitigations, or even closing down.
“They sit behind a camera spouting all the covid (sic) issues and how bad things are and seemingly supporting the governor and his mandates,” Sells said in a private Facebook message to the News-Democrat. “All the while people are losing their businesses and facing bankruptcy due to the mandates he’s preaching to everyone.
“Then he travels almost five hours away across to states to support his own business all the while totally ignoring the same mandates he is supporting,” Sells added. “The numbers are climbing so much here in St. Clair County that restaurants and bars are being forced to serve only outdoors during what is now becoming winter weather.”
Tony Funderburg, village administrator of Freeburg, also complained about Simmons’ participation in the wrestling event, telling KSDK Channel 5 it undermines his leadership.
“It’s hard for me to have any respect for him at this point,” Funderburg said.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee hasn’t resorted to the kind of measures Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has imposed to stem the spread of the coronavirus, which has infected more than 400,000 and killed more than 9,900 Illinois residents since March.
But Madison County, Tennessee, is experiencing an outbreak of infections on a similar pace with the metro-east. According to the Jackson-Madison County Regional Health Department, the county of about 90,000 residents has had just 1,786 cases of COVID-19, compared to 9,078 in St. Clair County, which has about 270,000 residents. But it has a positivity rate of 9.2% while averaging more than 250 tests daily.
In Illinois, three consecutive days of an 8% positivity rate has led to a ban on indoor dining and bar service, among other measures, in nine of its 11 healthcare regions.
Wrestling match wasn’t ‘hypocritical’
Simmons said if his company, Southwestern Illinois Championship Wrestling, were hosting shows in Illinois, then he would agree that it was hypocritical. But because Tennessee is not under mitigation orders, he is not.
“If I was out here doing a show in Swansea or East Carondelet and then coming on here and saying all of this then I’m wrong, beat me up and chew me up, whatever you want to do,” he said. “We haven’t had any events.”
He added that he wasn’t paid for the event and was only featured in a handful of promos that lasted less than a few minutes. He’s attended two USA Championship Wrestling events in the last two months.
“I did a couple of segments — probably a couple of minutes at most — but whenever I’m on camera my mask is off but the minute I go behind the scenes I put my mask back on,” Simmons said, nothing that he did not stay overnight and only stopped on the way to the event for gas.
He said he “felt comfortable” at the event where he was ensured CDC COVID-19 guidelines were being followed by the promoter.
“That was one of the stipulations that let them run again — they had to follow all the rules in their areas,” Simmons said.
Criticism won’t deter Simmons
He said the criticism he’s getting is coming from COVID-19 “naysayers,” a label he uses often during his daily updates with St. Clair County Chairman Mark Kern and other county health officials.
During those updates, which can be viewed live on Facebook daily at 3:30 p.m., comments range from full support to sharp criticism of face coverings, the county and state’s plan to stop the spread of COVID-19, and Pritzkers’ “Restore Illinois” policies.
Simmons said those who tell people to stop wearing masks are looking to discredit the fight against COVID-19 and distract against the county’s mission to lower the rate of virus cases.
But he said the criticism isn’t going to stop him from preaching about the importance of masks and social distancing.
“For 229 days we’ve been doing this and we’re going to continue. Hopefully it makes a difference,” he said about the daily briefing. “They don’t want to wear a mask and they think they can take things away from this thinking they’ll shut me up. But I’ll be there today at 3:30 p.m., God willing.”
This story was originally published October 30, 2020 at 7:00 AM.