Speakers express support for police at first Oak Lawn meeting since a video showed 17-year-old’s arrest

Leaders of the Arab American community called for people who believe Oak Lawn police officers used too much force in subduing a 17-year-old last month to attend Tuesday morning’s Village Board meeting.

But it was the supporters of police officers who turned out for the meeting at Oak Lawn Village Hall.

Of the 17 people who spoke during the public comment, only two said they were outraged to see officers punching the teenager from Bridgeview while he was held on the ground, after fleeing police during a traffic stop July 27.

The other people who spoke praised the work the Oak Lawn police do and want the teenager held accountable for illegally carrying a loaded handgun.

Oak Lawn officials have said the officers used force to subdue the juvenile because they thought he was reaching into the shoulder bag he wore, which ended up containing a gun.

Ryan Clancy, whose sister Patricia Swank, a Chicago police officer, died by suicide July 2, led the comments, saying the lack of respect for authority and police starts at home. Clancy said he and his sister attended St. Catherine of Alexandria grammar school in Oak Lawn as children.

“I don’t know when or where we decided as a society it was normal to go against the police, but I promise every person who feels that way will be the first to call them when they run into trouble,” Clancy said.

“We need to respect, obey and protect those who are protecting us,” Clancy said.

“I ask if you, would be comfortable with this 17-year-old running toward you with that gun? I ask if you would be comfortable with him being around your children with a loaded weapon? I ask if you would feel safe with him bringing that gun into our parks, restaurant, or even our homes?” Clancy said.

“If you say yes to any of those questions, you are simply delusional in refusing to accept the fact that officers removed both a criminal and a violent weapon from the streets that day and potentially saved lives,” he said.

Other residents, too, criticized parents who do not hold their children accountable.

Steve Radice, a 27-year resident of Oak Lawn, said if either of his two sons had had a weapon or ran from police when they were young, “I can tell you unequivocally the least of their concerns would be the police. It starts at home.”

The mother of the juvenile police hit and arrested should be thanking the Oak Lawn police, Radice said. If the teenager had fired that weapon, he might have shot an officer or bystander and would have to spend the rest of his life in jail, he said.

Longtime resident Brian Clemens said it could have been even worse.

“If that gun were in (the juvenile’s) hand, would he be alive today? Most likely not,” Clemens said.

Jim Shirazi, an Oak Lawn business owner and former resident, said he has had many interactions with the police.

“They have been very professional and treat me with the utmost respect,” Shirazi said.

Before the meeting, Muhammad Sankari, lead organizer for the Arab American Action Network, told reporters outside Village Hall there was no excuse for the police to beat the juvenile as they did. The juvenile was hospitalized about five days from injuries he sustained when he was taken into custody. His family has filed a lawsuit against Oak Lawn and the officers.

The state police are conducting an independent investigation of the traffic stop and arrest.

Sankari and others who joined prior protests in Oak Lawn against police brutality want the officers involved in the arrest fired and criminally charged. But Sankari did not speak during the Aug. 9 Village Board meeting.

Don Gross of Midlothian, however, did.

“This should be an opportunity for Oak Lawn to clean up its police force,” Gross said. “I felt compelled morally to show up here.”

Gross, who said he lived in Oak Lawn for about a year a few years ago, is a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation.

”We are in solidarity with the struggle against police brutality and racism,” Gross said.

Oak Lawn Mayor Terry Vorderer and Village Manager Thomas Phelan disputed there was a pattern or a history of police brutality or racism in Oak Lawn.

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Vorderer, who was an Oak Lawn police officer for 35 years, said the job of a police officer has never been easy, but now it’s harder than ever before. The low number of applicants for police departments demonstrate how difficult the job is, he said.

“This is a great Police Department,” Vorderer said. “I am proud to be the mayor of this village.”

He and other Village Board members thanked the residents for coming to support their police officers.

“There is a limit to what civil society can put up with,” Phelan said. “This is the tipping point. We are not going to tolerate it,” Phelan said.

One resident brought a video showing a compilation of TV news reports about officers across the country who were shot during traffic stops or responding to domestic incidents in the past few years.

As the village policy limits each public comment to no more than three minutes, Phelan stopped the video when the resident’s three minutes ended. Residents who subsequently came to the podium to speak yielded their remaining time so the video was played bit by bit.

Kimberly Fornek is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.