Charging a former Waukegan police officer in the 2020 shooting death of Marcellis Stinnette was apparently not enough for a small group of protesters Monday at a City Council meeting, which also featured the unrelated arrest of the local Black Lives Matter chapter’s founder.
A handful of protesters dominated the regularly scheduled Waukegan City Council meeting at City Hall seeking the resignation of Mayor Ann Taylor and all nine aldermen, as the elected officials listened quietly to their comments.
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Led by Rabbi Michael Ben Yosef of Chicago, an activist and advocate for the Stinnette family, the group of six protesters held signs reading, “Justice for Marcellis Stinnette” and chanted at Ben Yosef’s prompting.
“Justice for,” Ben Yosef called out. “Marcellis Stinnette,” the protesters responded.
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Walking in front of the room holding one of the signs, Ben Yosef also said, “Say his name.” “Marcellis Stinnette,” they answered.
Ben Yosef said he was glad former police officer Dante Salinas was indicted Sept. 22 for second-degree murder and manslaughter, but added justice for Stinnette is lacking. A partial solution, he said, would be the resignation of Taylor and the aldermen for, “silently protecting the killer cop.”
“Marcellis Stinnette’s name is now exonerated … almost two years after his death,” Ben Yosef said. “You only believed that his murder was justified by your two years of silence and lack of action. Today begins a relentless campaign for the Stinnette family to make his life matter.”
Waukegan police dashboard and body camera footage shows that Stinnette and his girlfriend, Tafara Williams, were sitting in her parked car in front of her house on the night of Oct. 20, 2020, when a police officer stopped and began questioning them.
After several minutes, Williams suddenly drove away, and the officer radioed for assistance. Salinas responded and chased Williams for several blocks until Williams’ car ran off the road near Martin Luther King Drive and Helmholtz Avenue after she failed to negotiate a curve.
Salinas got out of his car as Williams put her car in reverse, and then he fired six shots into the side of her car. The vehicle stopped after it backed into a small brick building.
Stinnette died from gunshot injuries, and Williams underwent surgery for bullet wounds, authorities said.
Salinas was fired shortly after the shooting.
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Taylor said after the meeting she has no intention of resigning, and situations like Monday’s motivate her to seek reelection in 2025. Listening to comments from the public is part of the job, she said.
“People are entitled to free speech,” Taylor said. “You still have to be respectful and follow the rules of decorum, which are there to establish respect. You have to be respectful of yourself and others.”
Apart from the comments of the protesters, Clyde McLemore, the founder of the Lake County chapter of Black Lives Matter and a Zion resident, continued the criticism of the mayor.
He initially took issue with Taylor at the Sept. 19 council meeting for allowing GOP gubernatorial candidate state Sen. Darren Bailey, R-Louisville, to take a picture of her and other aldermen the day before.
At Monday’s meeting, McLemore said, “Again, I ask the city who invited Darren Bailey here to Waukegan. Was he invited as a senator from Louisville? He came here as a candidate for governor. Why would he come to a city which has a Democratic senator and a Democratic state rep?”
As he left the podium saying, “I ain’t done,” McLemore kept talking as he walked back to his seat. He was followed by Police Chief Keith Zupec, who warned McLemore twice to stop talking. When he kept speaking, he was asked to leave.
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McLemore said if officials wanted him to leave they would have to arrest him, which they did. Zupec said he warned McLemore twice before arresting him for trespassing. Zupec would not comment further.
Bailey was in Waukegan Sept. 18 for the Fiestas Patrias parade when he walked into City Hall for a gathering of elected officials who were there for the event. He took a picture with Taylor, Ald. Lynn Florian, 8th Ward, and others.
The photo was later posted by Bailey’s staff on his campaign Facebook page. It was removed at Florian’s request when she learned it was used for campaign purposes.
During her comments at the start of the meeting, Taylor talked to the crowd of approximately 40 people, including a variety of city officials, about the rules of decorum. Corporation counsel Kelley Gandursky read the rules to the crowd.
McLemore was warned at the Sept. 19 meeting about his behavior. Ben Yosef’s refusal to abide by those regulations when the council met Sept. 6 caused a 20-minute recess while order was restored.
“It is not a conversation between you and the aldermen,” Taylor said. “We are here to listen. That is what audience time is. Tonight I would like us all to be respectful of that, and show respect for ourselves and our fellow citizens.”
