Two groups look to jumpstart dialogue after last month's community forum

The cofounder and head of Black Lives Matter Springfield said she felt community engagement around the fallout from a former Springfield Police Department officer responsible for racist, antisemitic and homophobic comments should be furthered.

That was the reason Sunshine Clemons has partnered with members of Resistor Sisterhood to hold a listening session at Lincoln Library (Carnegie Room North) on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.

While an April 13 "Unity in the Community" forum was a good starting place, Clemons said, neither group was aware of any future efforts being planned " so we just decided to do something together."

Related: Community unity summit calls for action to rebuild trust after SPD officer resigns

The plan is to cull ideas from the April 13 gathering, along with any new ideas or concerns, and present them to SPD, Clemons said.

"We don't think that the (April 13) event should be the end of the public engagement," Clemons said.

That forum, sponsored by the Springfield NAACP and the Jewish Federation of Springfield, included a panel made up of Sangamon County state's attorney Dan Wright, U.S. Attorney for the Central District of Illinois Gregory Harris, Springfield Police Chief Ken Scarlette, and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul.

SPD officials are "absolutely welcome," Clemons said, but Wednesday's meeting "won't be set up the same way (as the forum)."

Clemons said the NAACP was made aware of Wednesday's gathering but hasn't heard whether the group will be in attendance.

Springfield Police officer Aaron Paul Nichols resigned April 5 after being the subject of an online article that exposed social media posts attributed to him. Nichols was officer for nearly 18 years.

Nichols is the subject of an SPD internal investigation. Wright is also reviewing records of the officer's conduct.

Clemons said there were questions asked at the April 13 event that didn't receive full answers.

"For example, I asked the police department what steps were being taken to ensure that the community was being kept safe from any potential threat (Nichols) might present due to his actions being exposed," Clemons pointed out. "There was no answer given. I think the community deserves to know what the PD is doing to try to ensure the safety of the community."

Wednesday's meeting came out of dialogue with members of Resistor Sisterhood, Clemons said. The two groups have had "a good working relationship," she said.

Clemons added that she didn't want the narrative driven by "our two community groups. We want the feedback and input from the community to make sure we're representing want the community at-large is looking for."

BLM solidarity procession

Black Lives Matter SPI will hold its third "solidarity procession" on May 29.

The initial procession, which remembers Breonna Taylor, Dreasjon "Sean" Reed and George Floyd, drew some 3,000 vehicles, according to Springfield Police.

The 2020 procession came days after the death of Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis Police officer, Derek Chauvin, who was sentenced to 22-and-a-half years for murder.

Taylor, an emergency medical technician, was killed in her Louisville home on March 13, 2020. Reed was shot and killed by Indianapolis police following a high-speed chase on May 6, 2020.

A grand jury indicted one of three Louisville officers, but he was acquitted of wanton endangerment. The officer determined to have fired the fatal shot that killed Taylor was never directly charged. A grand jury declined to indict an Indianapolis police officer who fatally shot Reed.

The lineup is at the parking lot south of Adams Street and west of Ninth Street in downtown Springfield.

For more information, visit Black Lives Matter SPI's Facebook page.

Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788, sspearie@sj-r.com, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Groups like BLM hope to stir dialogue after cop's resignation