CHICAGO – State Senator Patricia Van Pelt (D-Chicago) had this to say Wednesday on news the Joliet Police Department placed Sgt. Javier Esqueda on administrative leave after he spoke out on the death of Eric Lurry, a Black man who died in the custody of Joliet police officers earlier this year:

“Why is it that the officer who spoke out on Eric Lurry’s death was reprimanded but the officers responsible for Lurry’s death were not?

“Sgt. Esqueda has become a sad example of the problem with police departments. We want to believe that ‘Not all cops are bad,’ but when cops actually try to do right, they are admonished for speaking out against the injustices happening in their ranks.

“Good cops should not need to fight against being silenced when they speak up about injustice. We will never be able to fix things in this country and prevent deaths like George Floyd’s, Eric Lurry’s, and too many other Black people’s, if the officers who speak out against racism and brutality are punished for it.”