Dozens of protesters marched in Waukegan Thursday, and several speakers asked for a federal investigation into the death this week of Marcellis Stinnette, who was fatally shot by a Waukegan police officer.
About 100 people on foot, and what a rally organizer estimated was another 100 following in cars, gathered on the city’s south side two days after Stinnette, 19, and his girlfriend, Tafara Williams, were shot in an encounter with police.
The group marched from the site of the shooting near the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. and Hemholtz avenues, eventually ending up outside the Waukegan City Hall complex, where speakers asked for accountability in the investigation of the shooting of Stinnette and Williams.
Police said this week that a Hispanic officer opened fire on Williams and Stinnette, who are both Black, when he feared for his life as their vehicle backed up toward him when he approached it around 11:55 p.m. Tuesday. No gun was found in the victims’ car, police said.
Clifftina Johnson, Williams’ mother, said her daughter told her she and Stinnette had done nothing to provoke the shooting.
The investigation into the incident is being handled by the Illinois State Police.
Lake County Coroner Howard Cooper released preliminary autopsy results Thursday which indicated Marcellis Stinnette, who was a passenger in the car, “died from injuries due to a gunshot” at Vista Medical Center East.
Williams remained hospitalized Thursday after undergoing a second surgery for injuries sustained when she was shot in the abdomen and arm, her mother said.
“My daughter wants to speak – it doesn’t matter how many shots you gave her,” Johnson said.
Stinnette’s grandmother, Sherrellis Sheria Stinnette, who wore a Black Lives Matter cap, said, “My grandson died with a smile on his face. I know he did. And the police officer, he’s forgiven.
“I didn’t say what (the police officer) did was right, because it’s not, but we all have to answer come Judgment Day,” she added.
Clyde McLemore, of the Lake County chapter of Black Lives Matter, said he wanted a federal investigation into the shooting.
“We don’t want the police investigating the police,” he said. “We want the Department of Justice coming in.”
Another BLM member, Zakee Darr, said, “We’re going to get justice here, where we couldn’t get it in other places.”
The march remained peaceful, and there was not a strong police presence, other than some law enforcement officers who looked on from inside the courthouse as the protesters stopped briefly in the intersection outside the building to chant slogans.
Protest organizers said they were pleased with the protest. McLemore said he would consult with the families of the Stinnette and Williams to decide on future events. A prayer vigil was reportedly planned for Thursday night.
McLemore said Waukegan should not expect the sort of civil unrest that have marred other protests against police shootings.
“Downtown Waukegan people were boarding up their storefronts, and that’s not what we do,” McLemore said.
