Black Lives Matter protests held in New Athens, Edwardsville, Staunton and Belleville
Connie and Jim Cominsky said it wasn’t easy to move to a small town.
The couple lived in St. Louis before moving to New Athens, population 2,000, a year ago to be closer to Connie’s mother. The self-described “seasoned protesters” said they were used to living in diverse neighborhoods.
On Saturday — the 26th straight day of nationwide protests against police brutality — the Cominskys drove to New Athens Village Hall in their golf cart, decorated with honey bee decals and a “Black Lives Matter” sign. They joined 40 other people to peacefully protest.
More community members watched from their cars and carts. One couple said they didn’t know what to expect and were recording the whole thing. “But so far, so good,” the man holding the camera said around 90 minutes into the demonstration.
“I think it’s harder to protest in a small city,” Connie Cominsky said.
Protests also were held in Belleville, Edwardsville and Staunton on Saturday.
“We decided to change the narrative,” Edwardsville organizer Anya Covington said. “We talked a lot about it being I, you, me and we, instead of they. We are the change that we seek.”
This is the third consecutive weekend of multiple protests around southwestern Illinois. Mascoutah, Waterloo, Belleville, Freeburg, O’Fallon, Collinsville, Granite City and Edwardsville are among communities that have had weekend peaceful demonstrations over police brutality and systemic racism. At least eight protests have been held in Belleville since Memorial Day.
Demonstrations have occurred across America, in big cities and small towns, since the Memorial Day death of George Floyd, a Black man killed in police custody in Minneapolis. Four police officers were fired and have since been charged in Floyd’s death.
The two New Athens organizers, Allison Kreher and Ethan Jones, said they had faced considerable pushback from the community for organizing a protest.
Kreher has worked with other protests in the metro-east, but said New Athens was different. “It’s bad here,” she said. “It’s really bad here.”
Jones said he had been kicked out of a community Facebook group for sharing information about the event. Jones said it was harder to get people to show up in a small town: There are fewer people, of course, but a small protest can be more intimidating to join than a large one.
Some people drove by and honked their horn, supportively. One man — who identified himself as a Bernie Sanders supporter — pulled up to tell the group he supported them and to vote. “I’m not sure about Joe [Biden, Democratic candidate for president]. Does he have the stomach to take this on?,” he said.
Other drivers yelled at them to go home. A man in a jeep stopped to listen to speakers for a few moments and laughed out loud as he drove away. One red truck flying both American and Confederate flags drove past protesters at least three times in two hours. A driver spewed black, dusty fumes from his truck.
“That’s part of the problem,” Chris Caswell said, pointing to the handful of police officers standing by after the truck drove off. “They’re laughing.”
There were officers from New Athens, St. Clair County and the state patrol present. New Athens Chief of Police Leo Simburger said he didn’t know what to expect because the organizers hadn’t contacted him beforehand, and he wanted to make sure there were enough people to keep everyone safe.
Karen Boden of New Athens watched the protest from her car across the street and said she was angry about how long the protests have continued across the nation.
“They’re tearing up the country,” she said. When asked if there had been any property destruction in New Athens, she said no because “they know the people wouldn’t take that.”
“I’ll stand for all lives, but I won’t stand for no Black life,” she said, talking to a man on a motorcycle who was watching with her.
At many protests this summer, there have been voter registration booths. W. L. Fort, who works to register voters with the Indivisible Metro East, said he had attended several protests already and had plans to go to more.
“Elected officials have allowed things to happen that shouldn’t be happening,” he said. “What I’ve seen has been peaceful protesting against law enforcement overreach.”
Unity Rally in Staunton draws small counter protest
A hundred protesters against racism gathered Saturday afternoon in front of Staunton Public Library. Across the street, a dozen counter protesters, split into two groups, carried their own signs and said they “backed the badge.”
Organizer Lika Hindi, who grew up in Staunton, said it was important that small towns see demonstrations. Ahead of the rally, she said she visited nearby businesses to tell them what to expect and to quell their concerns.
“This is me doing the protest. It’s not anything scary, it’s just a rally against racism,” she said. “That’s how we squashed those. I think we have more positive feedback. People might not be on our side, but at least it’s not hostile.”
The rally had speakers talk about why they were protesting: Teachers said they were there to support their students. Black men said they were there because they had been racially profiled by police. A veteran said he had a duty to uphold the U.S. Constitution.
“Anytime the Constitution is threatened, I must stand up,” Robert Stampf said in an interview. He said equal protection under the law was being violated on the basis of skin color.
Originally, the counter protesters marched on the sidewalk outside of the library, on the same side of the street as the rally. A Staunton police officer told them to go to the other side of the road. One man wearing a “Hillary for Prison” shirt stood with the rally while Hindi gave her opening remarks, yelling “all lives matter.”
As the protesters went through chants, the counter protesters across the street yelled “all lives matter” and “stop resisting.”
Just before 5 p.m., it started to thunder. Protesters took turns holding an umbrella over the speakers and audio equipment.
“I don’t know if you believe in symbols, but I do. I believe this storm is coming because the revolution is coming,” Hindi told the crowd.
Protesters march through downtown Belleville
In Belleville, more than 50 demonstrators carrying signs and chanting marched through town in 90-plus degree heat. They made their way along East Main Street over to East Lincoln Street, then to South Illinois Street, ending the march at the fountain in Public Square.
Demonstrators shouted ``Black Lives Matter; “ “Justice delayed, justice denied;” “This is what democracy looks like; “ “(F-word) the police” and other chants during the march and at Public Square.
Cars carrying cold water followed the procession, sharing it with marchers and bystanders during frequent stops along the route.
Police cars were behind and in front of the marchers, and blocked off traffic on side streets as they passed, after they received reports of the demonstration. ``For the most part, everything was orderly, other than the fact they they were in the roadway,” Capt. Mark Heffernan of the Belleville Police Department said of the protesters.
At one point officers rushed in after receiving a report that someone was armed but Heffernan said no weapon was found. Officers then backed off and the march continued, concluding at Public Square.
This story was originally published June 20, 2020 at 1:41 PM.