Protesters demand police department accountability in Fairview Heights Sky Zone incident
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Fairview Heights SkyZone incident
Read the BND’s previous coverage of the incident at the Fairview Heights business.
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A group of nearly 20 people marched through the streets Sunday evening to protest a Fairview Heights police officer’s use of force on Black teenagers to break up a fight at a local trampoline park.
The marchers want accountability.
“Cops use excessive force on Black teens and try to cover it up,” JD Dixon, an organizer of the protest, said during the march. “By doing an internal investigation, they tried to cover it up. We’re out here seeking justice because the families and the teens deserve justice, due process.”
The march was held by Empire 13, a Belleville-based grassroots activist organization that doesn’t want people to forget about the June 26 incident at Sky Zone Trampoline Park.
Fairview Heights police and officers from other agencies were sent to the park to disperse a crowd of more than 200 patrons. Police said while they were at the scene, fights “between juveniles broke out in the parking lot and vestibule of the business.”
Videos of the officers responding spread across social media. One post showed an unidentified Fairview Heights officer punching downward to break up a fight between two girls.
Families of two of the teenagers and their supporters have questioned the police department’s use of force.
An internal investigation, which was reviewed by the Illinois State Police and the O’Fallon-Metro East NAACP branch, found that the officer’s use of force was appropriate.
The department’s investigation found the officer’s response to the “volatile and dangerous” situation exhibited a “tremendous amount of restraint.” It explained that the officer was using his fists to break one of the girls’ grip on the other girl’s braided hair.
Lindsay Caldwell, who attended Sunday’s protest, said she was disappointed in the investigation’s findings. She thought the police could’ve handled the situation better.
“At the end of the day, they’re kids,” Caldwell, who lives in Belleville, said. “I just feel like there are certain things you shouldn’t do to kids. I didn’t think he had to use that much force on the little kid ... they don’t deserve to be treated like that. I think cops get that abuse of power, and they just go crazy with it.”
The investigation’s conclusion is what encouraged her to attend the protest.
“The people here in St. Clair County, they just need to know that the injustices don’t just happen in different states,” Caldwell said. “It happens here at home too, and you can’t do anything unless you get started at home first.”
Calls for accountability
The march started at the parking lot of Hobby Lobby on Illinois Street in Fairview Heights. Protesters held signs and demanded accountability while walking through Lincoln Trail, occupying the street several times throughout the march. It ended at the Sky Zone, where the incident occurred.
“They’re not allowed to put their hands on any citizen just because they’re wearing a badge,” Dixon said. “They’re not allowed to have a bad day and pull somebody by their hair, sit on top of them, put their knee on their neck, shoot them, kill them or anything just because they have a badge on their chests. That’s not how it works in the country.
“That’s not how it’s supposed to work, period. We brought that out today. Our actions brought that out today, and we ain’t done. We’re not stopping until we get justice.”
Family of the teenagers involved in the fight, community members and supporters of the police debated the incident during a committee meeting at Fairview Heights City Hall last week. Melanie Boyd, the mother of one of the teens involved in the fight, was there. She was also at Sunday’s protest.
Although she was happy for the support she received, she said this time has been very difficult on her daughter.
“She hasn’t slept in days,” said Boyd, who lives in East St. Louis. “She had a concussion, so she has to follow up with a concussion specialist. It’s been very depressing. She’s been very sad. She hasn’t been able to sleep. Her eating habits are off, so it has affected her life tremendously.”
Toward the end of the protest, Dixon and other protesters talked to Fairview Heights police officers, who were urging them to get out of the street.
“I asked him if I were to hit him on the back of the head, would I be arrested and he said yes,” Dixon said about the exchange, questioning a double standard for police officers in cases such as the Sky Zone incident.
Dixon was happy with Sunday’s turnout. But he said there’s more work to be done.
“We’re going to see what happens,” Dixon said about next steps. “We’re going to keep in touch with the family. We want the investigation to be reopened to go to the civil rights (bureau of the) attorney general of Illinois. We want them to investigate it, and that’s what we’re pushing for.”
This story was originally published July 19, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
