[0:03] Well, they give me they gave me a
concentrated
[0:08] » massage that area
>> and it felt better that day, but
[0:14] » now
>> and then I went to a doctor who gave me
[0:17] shot
>> it felt good for a day again.
[0:23] » It's tough to find out where to put the
shot.
[0:27] » Not anymore. You did that.
[0:41] » You see Terry?
>> I love it.
[0:51] » I think we have as many police here as
demonstrators.
[1:01] No,
[1:10] it's all good.
[1:28] Okay, first
[2:00] » [clears throat]
[2:05] » All right. Good evening everybody and
welcome to the village of Oklahoma board
[2:09] of trustees regular meeting. This is the
amended agenda and we are meeting at the
[2:14] Village Hall Auditorium, 9446 South
Raymond Avenue. This is meeting number
[2:19] 2026-14.
Of course, it's Tuesday, August 25th,
[2:24] 2:20,
2026, and it is 7:30 p.m. Roll call,
[2:29] please.
[2:36] » Mayor Border,
>> present. Trusty Olanichek.
[2:40] » Trusty Melo
>> here.
[2:42] » Trusty Stalker
>> here.
[2:44] » Trusty Warren
>> here.
[2:45] » Trusty Sack
>> here.
[2:47] » Trusty Penrook
>> here.
[2:49] » We have a quorum. Please join me in the
pledge allegiance. Veterans may salute.
[2:54] » I pledge algiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the
[2:59] republic for it stands. One nation under
God indivisibley
[3:05] and justice for all.
[3:11] Amen.
>> All right. Public comments. Madame
[3:13] clerk. First,
>> Fia.
[3:24] » Uh, good evening. Are you an Oklahoma
resident?
[3:28] » Good evening, Mr. Mayor. I um don't
believe you recall who I am. Well, I do
[3:33] recognize your face and I know I know of
you, but
[3:37] » I've been an Oakwan resident for about
30 years.
[3:40] » Thank you.
>> My name is Fia Muhammad.
[3:43] » Hi.
>> The mother of Morad Kurtie.
[3:45] » Okay.
>> Who was struck and killed by Leanne
[3:47] Cuzak
>> June 5th.
[3:49] » And I went to that wake.
>> You did come to the wake. And I
[3:52] appreciate your presence for that. I I
>> appreciate your uh coming to pay your
[3:57] respects.
>> Thank you.
[3:59] » Unfortunately, Mr. Mr. Mayor, I'm still
here asking for Justin.
[4:04] I'm hoping that uh you would help out
with that. So,
[4:09] I know that
you don't want us here as much as we
[4:14] don't want to be.
This is unfortunate
[4:18] and I'm here speaking in front of you
all tonight
[4:23] because I need answers
and I need accountability.
[4:29] For those of you who don't know,
my son at the age of 20 years, 28 years
[4:36] old was killed by a woman named Leanne
Cuz
[4:42] what happened on June 5th, 2023
was not an accident. It was a choice
[4:48] that she decided when she drank and got
behind the wheel that
[4:53] she killed my son with that choice she
made.
[5:00] I will never see him or hear his voice
again.
[5:05] The police officers on scene that day
obviously didn't think my son's life
[5:09] mattered.
She rire of alcohol
[5:15] which the Oakan police officer smelled.
He smelled it on her. He then asked her
[5:21] if she had been drinking. And guess
what?
[5:25] She admitted that she had just left the
bar.
[5:31] Despite a confession from the the
offender herself, they still didn't test
[5:36] her nor detain her.
How do you all expect me to make any
[5:43] sense of it and justify their actions?
How?
[5:48] How?
She admitted. They smelled it. She
[5:53] confessed that she just left the bar. my
son is dead on the ground and they let
[5:58] her go without a test.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to to
[6:03] know that if someone smells of alcohol
and they strike and kill a pedestrian,
[6:10] you take them in for testing force.
I I'm assuming that your police officers
[6:16] are trained to do this kind of stuff.
And if not,
[6:20] I demand that someone be held
accountable, perhaps further testing.
[6:30] The police officers on scene that day
should have done their job
[6:38] along with Detective Hollingsworth who
needs to be held accountable. If it was
[6:43] one of your children,
>> your 30 minutes are up. I will extend
[6:46] you for another 30 seconds out of court.
>> If it was one of your children, what
[6:50] would you do? What would you do if it
was one of your children?
[6:56] Would you give him a pat on the back or
perhaps request a promotion? I don't
[7:01] think so. I'm going to ask you again.
I'm going to ask you again and I'm
[7:06] addressing all of you.
If it was your son,
[7:11] how would you feel? Let that sink in.
How would you feel?
[7:17] » Thank you,
[7:26] [applause]
>> Bill.
[7:32] Bill, I'm sorry I can't catch the last
name.
[7:40] » Thank you.
You've been in my garden.
[7:44] » I I remember.
>> I'm here and I'm not going to assign
[7:49] blame. I'm not going to call names. I
don't do that. I was a union rep for 33
[7:52] years. I would never accuse anybody if I
don't have evidence. So, I've heard a
[7:58] lot of people talking about racism. Does
it exist in our society? Yes, it does.
[8:02] But am I going to accuse any individual
officer here or elected official? No.
[8:08] Not unless I can prove it. And it's
difficult to prove motivation speaking
[8:13] as a steward for 33 years and dealt with
arbitrators, administrative law judges
[8:18] and other agencies,
but
[8:22] there is a lot of disturbing things that
have happened in the past few years. and
[8:28] the fact that all three instances
intersect at the Muslim resident, people
[8:35] are going to draw conclusions. People
are going to get angry
[8:40] at the I was not at the last meeting. I
saw video, but video doesn't tell the
[8:43] whole story. comment on that other than
if the chairperson of the fire and
[8:49] police commission can't take being
called a name, he should probably
[8:53] consider resigning, possibly getting
some help because he might have
[8:56] self-esteem issues.
Um,
[9:00] getting upset because someone calls you
a name, that isn't a violation of the
[9:04] Open Meetings Act and is not cause
dismissal. If I made an overt or direct
[9:08] threat, that is definitely cause for
dismissal. But if I call somebody an
[9:12] or any other name, many of which
I've been called in my job as a union
[9:18] rep, you move on. Unless, of course,
it's your boss and then maybe you have
[9:23] to deal with a little bit. But my own
personal opinion on this is people have
[9:30] to be accountable.
A couple times when we've been at
[9:34] events, I've seen some officers, I'm not
going to name,
[9:38] get a little bit in the moment.
At the June meeting, somebody that has
[9:44] done this a couple times got in the
moment and one of his officers at the
[9:47] rear rank reached up, grabbed him, and
pulled him back and said, "Back up." And
[9:52] he stood in the back. And you could see
him
[9:56] calming down
because he was a little bit in that
[10:00] moment. And I understand that you're in
a stressful situation, it's very
[10:04] difficult. But when you're wearing a
uniform and you have a weapon, you have
[10:08] to have discipline. You have to have
force discipline. Otherwise, you are not
[10:12] a force. You are a mob. And I think
that's something that has to be
[10:16] addressed here because some people may
not like it, but the Muslim and minority
[10:21] population in Oakland is growing.
Personally, I like it because I like
[10:25] going to Little Palestine to get really
good food and great coffee. That's it.
[10:29] Thank you,
[applause]
[10:37] » Yousef.
[10:40] » Hi. Are you an Oaklan resident?
>> I'm not. In fact, I traveled all the way
[10:44] from Chicago to come here. Uh, and to
echo the demands to demand justice for
[10:50] Kurtie. I came after a long day of
school. Um, and I'm going to echo the
[10:55] sentiments of the community members
here, uh, of the concern over concerns
[10:59] over police safety and brutality. Um, it
was only three weeks ago that the
[11:04] Oakland police have once again shown how
violent and racist they are. While
[11:08] communities like the one in Oaklan in
the broader Chicago area have
[11:12] experienced surge in anti-Arab hate
crimes and experience experiences, Oakan
[11:17] police continue to sink lower and lower
in their despicable conduct. now
[11:21] assaulting a 14-year-old Arab-American
minor. Many will call the Oakan police
[11:26] incompetent. While this is clearly true,
incompetency can only go so far. What we
[11:30] are witnessing is a pattern of racism
from the Oaklan Police Department. They
[11:35] know what they are doing. You don't
accidentally assault a 14-year-old child
[11:39] and arrest the mother. You don't dis
accidentally disproportionately pull
[11:43] over more black and brown drivers. The
police department has shown that they
[11:48] intentionally train hire and protect
violent racists. Remember how the same
[11:54] police department let Murad's Cury's
killer walk away from the scene of the
[11:58] uh hit and run murder while there was
still alcohol in the white driver's
[12:03] bloodstream. And while Murad's body was
on the pavement warm, she was sent home.
[12:09] We will still we still have not received
justice for this misconduct.
[12:14] It should have been at this point that
the department faced an accountability
[12:17] crisis. There should have been an
account uh bit been accountability to
[12:20] address how this could have happened.
But the city failed us. Now a
[12:24] 14-year-old Arab child has been
assaulted by the same police department.
[12:29] Will this board of trustees whose names
preside over these criminal acts by
[12:33] their police department in their
appointed fire and police board stand
[12:37] utterly while anti-Arab sentiment which
is plaguing the nation is perpetuated by
[12:41] their own police department? Will
[clears throat] this board let a town
[12:45] with a significant Arab population be
subject to discrimination and violence?
[12:49] Or will this body act and take the
appropriate measures to reign in these
[12:54] races?
Police accountability is necessary. It
[12:58] is not only appropriate for this town or
any other to have a police force that is
[13:02] so committed to anti-Arab sentiments
that it is now emboldened enough to
[13:06] assault children. The fact that this
happened proves that they think they can
[13:10] get away with it. It proves that once
again you all need to hold your cops and
[13:15] the appointed board accountable.
I would like to end with echoing the
[13:21] demands for the immediate firing Patrick
O'Donnell, Mark Haulingwards
[13:26] and Brandon Brandon Collins. We demand
the immediate firing of Benjamin Towski
[13:33] who allowed Lyon to go free after
striking and ultimately killing Mad
[13:36] Curry. We demandwame Raul to do a full
investigation of every single criminal
[13:41] act and violation committed by this bo
by this board and the OP. Thank you.
[13:47] » Thank you.
[13:53] » Abdala,
[13:58] » good evening. Are you an Oaklan
resident? I was an Oakland resident for
[14:02] most of my life and I've recently moved
away. Unfortunately, I'm very thankful
[14:05] to be out of Oklahoma at this point. I
no longer feel that this community is
[14:11] what little veneer of welcoming that
existed here.
[14:15] » Sorry. What little veneer of welcoming
that I felt or hoped for growing up here
[14:20] in Oaklan has completely and it's just
standing up here. I'm really struck
[14:25] because you all am not as acquainted
with you as I am with uh your appointed
[14:29] and fire board commission. Um I just was
sitting in my seat and was aruck at the
[14:34] fact that you're all looking at this.
That that is something that we have
[14:38] grown accustomed to not expecting in
this room. Um we come in here month
[14:42] after month and I'm sure you've heard
the narratives and I'm sure you've heard
[14:45] your appointees trying to spin the story
to make it seem that really violent or
[14:50] that we are coming here raving at the
mouth demanding that you change your
[14:53] ideology or that you see the world the
way that we see it. And that is not at
[14:57] all the case. I am not here to convince
you of my political opinions. I'm not
[15:00] here to convince you of a stance. I am
here to say that as a resident of Oakan,
[15:05] former resident of Oklahoma.
Um, similarly to what Bill said, who
[15:10] others have said, there comes a
responsibility with working with the
[15:13] public that I feel that this police
department has completely abandoned, not
[15:17] even failed, but completely abandoned as
a non-priority.
[15:21] The disrespect that has become so
routine, the emboldening of your police
[15:25] officers to act however they see fit in
the moment. And the way that even the
[15:29] police board that sits where you're
sitting right now, the way they wave
[15:32] their hand like emperors, get them out
of the room, they forfeited their right.
[15:37] And then a swarm of police officers
descends on a 14-year-old. That is
[15:40] unacceptable. That is absolutely You
don't need to agree with me. You don't
[15:44] need to see things the way I see things
to know that that is not the village
[15:47] that any of us want to be part of. I'm
again very thankful to be out of. I do
[15:52] not have faith in this uh board. I do
not have faith in any of you frankly
[15:57] because you appointed them. These people
have sat there and more or less spat in
[16:00] our face month after month. And it's
gotten so escalatory month after month
[16:06] that now it's it's like they don't even
really question it. And now after what
[16:11] happened on August 5th, instead of
turning around and saying we went too
[16:14] far, we have let a culture of
unaccountability go too far. We have led
[16:18] our officers off the leash too far. We
have invited misbehavior into this
[16:23] department by showing that we accept it
and allow it and will coddle it. In
[16:27] doing that, it led to a 14-year-old
getting brutalized in here. Instead of
[16:31] turning around and saying, "We have gone
too far. this township, this village,
[16:37] this department have dug their heels in
more and more, even releasing statements
[16:42] where they pretend that they don't know
the association of the people that
[16:46] stepped up to try to protect that for.
The idea similarly to what has been said
[16:51] before, your personal feelings do not
come in front of the safety of any
[16:57] member of our community, let alone a
teenager. And if you whether it's the
[17:01] police officer, whether it's the police
and fire commission, whether it's any of
[17:04] you feel that you cannot hold your
temper, that you cannot show restraint
[17:09] in the
>> time is up, sir. Thank you very much.
[17:12] » Then you should all
[17:25] » good evening. Are you an Oakland
resident?
[17:29] No, I'm not. But Oaklan is an epicenter
in my life. Um, a lot of my family was
[17:34] born at Christ. A lot of my family has
gone to Oakan Public High School. Um,
[17:39] where we are right now is about 10
minutes away from where I live now. And,
[17:44] uh, it's a shame. Um, but I'm shamed to
be here for this reason
[17:49] as you are those who represent Oaklan.
The surrounding suburbs are flourishing,
[17:57] thriving. on their multiculturalism and
also respect and love of thy neighbor.
[18:02] But why is Oaklan being held back?
There is a foundation in this village,
[18:10] our village of racism. You might not see
it because you are on the beneficial.
[18:18] You benefit. Um, and it's not your
fault, but it is your fault if we don't
[18:22] change it. you know
we have to change it. Um it is also
[18:30] going to go [clears throat] down in
history.
[18:33] Will you because who keeps us safe right
we keep us safe. Will you guys be part
[18:40] of that we or no? Will you let these
cops just on the way someone's going to
[18:47] the going to the hospital they fallen
ill. Cops sees a skin color. Oh, let me
[18:53] stop him. Okay. You have a hospital down
the street and your police force is not
[18:59] making it any safer for those to seek or
care at that hospital.
[19:04] Hospital is supposed to serve all people
just like you are supposed to serve
[19:08] those that the residents of Oaklan and
not as a non-resident
[19:14] telling you at least serve your
residents.
[19:17] And so with that though, you know, the
pledge of allegiance ended for justice
[19:21] for all, right? You heard that because
you say it often every second Thursday
[19:26] and four what? Third th fourth Thursday
of the month. So let me just start with
[19:31] the bill of rights. So you guys just
know. Okay.
[19:35] All men are by nature free and
independent have certain inherent and
[19:40] inalienable rights among which are life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
[19:45] To secure these rights and the
protection of property, governments are
[19:48] instituted among men, deriving their
just powers from the consent of the
[19:53] govern consent of the governed.
Okay. No person shall be deprived of
[19:59] life, liberty, or property without due
process of law, nor be denied the equal
[20:06] protection of the laws.
[20:11] Are are we registering that right?
[20:17] Three,
the free exercise and enjoyment of
[20:20] religious professionalism worship
without discrimination shall forever be
[20:24] guaranteed and no person shall be denied
any civil or political right, privilege
[20:29] or capacity on account of his religious
opinions.
[20:34] Freedom of speech. All persons may
speak, write and publish freely.
[20:38] » Sir, your time
>> being responsible for the abuse of that
[20:40] liberty.
>> Sir, your time is up. Thank
[20:43] » you. Thank you.
Follow the law.
[20:54] » Yara,
am I pronouncing it?
[21:01] » Good evening. Are you an Oaklan
resident?
[21:03] » No. I am a 17-year-old youth from the
suburbs of Chicago and I am here to tell
[21:08] the mayor and the village board of
Oaklan that you have a responsibility
[21:11] for the behavior of the police and fire
commission board and the conduct of the
[21:16] Oaklan Police Department. On August 5th,
during the public comment portion of the
[21:20] monthly Oakan and Fire Police Commission
meeting, Jim Baker called up a
[21:25] 14-year-old Arab American, purposely
mispronouncing his name in the process.
[21:29] When the teenager corrected him, Baker
decided the child had forfeited his
[21:33] right to speak because he was being, and
I quote, aggressive. I was present at
[21:38] this meeting and I watched the boy turn
around peacefully and begin walking away
[21:41] from the microphone. Even though he was
leaving on his own, he was surrounded by
[21:45] multiple police officers and was being
pushed around forcefully. Video evidence
[21:49] shows this, and it also shows officers
slamming the child in the counter and
[21:53] placing him in a chokeold, a tactic that
is illegal. Your cops essentially beat
[21:57] up a child for saying a swear word. I
would label this as really embarrassing
[22:01] for this board as you have the you have
a responsibility to oversee what is
[22:04] happening with your appointed officials.
And if the fire and police commission
[22:09] board is so unequipped to actually sit
down in their seats and listen to the
[22:13] public during a public comment portion,
maybe it is in your best interest to
[22:17] advise them to not take the positions
that they are in. I would also like to
[22:21] raise that on that day when questioned
if it was normal to put a child in a cho
[22:26] in a choke [clears throat] hold your
officer said of course it is. Is this a
[22:29] reputation you want to uphold? You have
shown the youth in this community that
[22:33] Oaklan police are violent and will
resort to violence in every situation.
[22:38] Not only did your cops abuse a child,
but they also assaulted the child's
[22:41] mother as she was violently grabbed and
her arm her arm was twisted and was
[22:46] forced out of the room. This recent
assault of another Arab child by
[22:50] multiple white officers again proved
that there is a deep-seated culture of
[22:53] racism, violence, and brutality in the
Oaklan Police Department. This isn't the
[22:58] first time your cops abused a youth.
Your cops brutally beat up 17-year-old
[23:02] Hedi Abuatila after he was already in
handcuffs to the point where he was
[23:05] hospitalized and almost died. When does
it stop? How many kids do you guys have
[23:10] to beat up until it's enough? Again,
this village board has the ability to do
[23:14] something and the youth here are waiting
for you to take a take a stand.
[23:18] » Thank you very much. [applause]
[23:26] » Gina,
[23:31] » good evening. Are you an Oaklan
resident?
[23:34] » Yes.
I I am a youth member of this community
[23:39] and I was there on Wednesday, August 5th
when I witnessed the Oakland police
[23:42] officer extreme force against my peer
who was a 14.
[23:47] His so his socalled crime was correcting
his name after I was mispronounced and
[23:51] using a swear word while doing in that
moment. Fire and police commissioner Jim
[23:56] Baker said this child was forbidded his
right to speak. Let's be clear. There's
[24:02] a clear difference between maintaining
order and silencing a member of the
[24:05] public. This 14-year-old kid did not
threaten anyone. He did not disrupt the
[24:09] meeting. He did not prevent another
speaker from the speaking. All he did
[24:13] was correct his own name. I am in high
school, so I feel like I know a bit
[24:17] about my rights in this meeting through
my government classes. What I know for
[24:21] sure is that the first amendment does
not disappear when a person comes up to
[24:25] the microphone at a public meeting. And
I know that from the Illinois's Open
[24:30] Meetings Act. clearly protects the
public's opportunity to address public
[24:35] officials. He had three minutes to say
what he wanted to say and Jim Baker
[24:38] decided that he did not deserve the rest
of his time. So, I'm here in this
[24:42] meeting to ask the village why was this
allowed to happen on on top of that he
[24:48] was assaulted and put in a chokeold in
front of everyone including the
[24:52] community. Again, that was my peer and I
witnessed him getting assaulted for his
[24:56] right to free speech at a public meeting
where officials are there to listen to
[25:00] the public's concerns. We're coming here
because members of our community already
[25:05] have concerns that some officers have
acted unjust unfairly and violated
[25:10] members of our community and documented
incidents. And then at a public meeting
[25:15] where people came to voice these
concerns, public police officers used
[25:19] force against a 14-year-old kid and held
him against in a chokeold. Regardless of
[25:24] what words were exchanged, the officers
should have never done that. How can
[25:27] officers do that to a 14-year-old and
face no consequences? When if a regular
[25:32] auto man put another person in a
chokeold, we all know how seriously that
[25:36] would get be treated and how quickly
charges would follow. His mother was
[25:41] also subjected to the voice to the force
when she attempted to stand up and
[25:45] protect her son. Again, regardless of
what words were exchanged, a 14-year-old
[25:50] child should not be put in a chokeold.
As a young person in this community,
[25:54] Oaklan Police Department's trainment
of OBS and people of color really makes
[26:00] us question whether we can truly feel
safe and protected by the very officer
[26:04] supposed to serve us.
>> Thank you. [applause]
[26:12] Dina.
[26:17] » Hi. Are you an Oakland resident?
>> Yes.
[26:21] July 27, 2022. A 17-year-old Arab boy is
restrained and beaten up almost to death
[26:27] by three Oak.
June 5th, 2023. A 28-year-old Arab man
[26:33] is run over by a drunk white woman. This
woman is then let go. scot-free without
[26:38] any serious charges. Again, the work of
Oaklan Police Department.
[26:43] August 5th, 2026. A 14-year-old boy says
one word and an entire room of police
[26:47] officers suddenly slams a boy into a
counter and puts him in a chokeold. By
[26:52] who? Oaklan Police Department. Are we
all seeing a pattern? Because I am
[26:57] definitely. I'm seeing repeated attacks,
disregard, and pure disrespect towards
[27:02] the community that you're supposed to be
protecting. Yet, we're left with a
[27:05] corrupted police department that knows
it won't face any consequences or
[27:09] repercussions for the horrific actions
against its own community. Be honest.
[27:13] Your police department isn't made of
public servants. It's made of corrupted
[27:17] individuals who get off on the power
they feel when they oppress their own
[27:20] community. And the police and fire
commission board are members are no
[27:24] different. And you I will name names.
Just a couple weeks ago, Jim Baker's
[27:29] anger issues led to my close friend
being slammed by a handful of police
[27:33] officers. All because he cussed. All
because Baker's ego cracked when he
[27:37] couldn't pronounce my name's friend
correct, my friend's name correctly.
[27:41] Is this a so-called justice you stand
beside? Are you proud of the board
[27:45] members that you appointed? Are you
happy they're doing your dirty work? If
[27:49] I threaten to cuss at you, will you send
your officers to choke them as well?
[27:53] Corruption is a nasty thing. It prevents
your board members to take
[27:57] accountability for the actions, for the
refusal to acknowledge the citizens
[28:00] they've harmed, to cleanse their police
department of the filth that it
[28:03] contains. That's why demands you leash
your police officers and discipline them
[28:08] to actually do their job. Their first
instinct shouldn't be to chase and tase
[28:13] a frail 17-year-old on suspicion of a
crime. The community should be able to
[28:18] attend a public meeting without being
attacked. We shouldn't have to be
[28:21] threatened by the officers that disguise
as our protector. Accountability will
[28:26] not come from OOLPD own investigation
because we all know messes won't clean
[28:30] themselves. Accountability will only be
won when the OOLPD is cleaned up which
[28:35] starts with the truth about why Cusack
was allowed to come home after killing
[28:40] Murad. And I want to end off by
reiterating our demand towame Raul to do
[28:44] a full independent and comprehensive
investigation to all into all the
[28:49] violations of the rights of Arabs and
people of color by the Oaklan Police
[28:54] Department. Thank you.
>> Thank you,
[28:59] [applause]
[29:01] » Suzanne.
[29:05] » Good evening, ma'am. Are you an Oakan
resident?
[29:09] I am not um I am a therapist who
actually works with youth like the ones
[29:16] that you are hearing from today who
experience discrimination
[29:20] and um help them work through how it
compromises their mental health.
[29:28] I am here today to express in the
loudest terms possible how utterly
[29:34] appalled I am with the Oaklan Police
Department, the Village Board, and the
[29:39] Police and Fire Commission. I attended
the meeting three weeks ago and
[29:45] immediately felt the tension when I
entered the boardroom. the intimidating
[29:49] and hostile environment coupled with
systemic issues we have been addressing
[29:54] here for the for the past few years and
the biased narratives you all hold
[30:00] directly influences the abusive and
violent behavior toward our community
[30:06] members including the recent incident
where one of our young people was
[30:10] slammed into a counter and placed in a
chokeold. Instead of accommodating our
[30:16] youth who feel the need to participate
in this process, especially as a means
[30:22] to persevere through their experiences
of discrimination and racism, your
[30:27] bodies chose a violent response.
This is not the first time they have
[30:34] acted this way. In the past three years,
we've witnessed board members insult
[30:39] community members, including Fadia,
Murad Kurdi's mother, set arbitrary
[30:44] rules and enforce them only against
members of our community, such as
[30:48] prohibiting the showing of the video to
the board. Most horrifyingly, you place
[30:54] snipers
snipers on top of buildings. Like, what
[30:59] is that?
while we are rallying outside.
[31:04] I mean, is isn't that ridiculous? Like
absolutely absurd.
[31:09] Your actions reinforce the community's
serious concerns regarding institutional
[31:15] racism within the Oaklan Police
Department. As an Arab mother, mental
[31:21] health professional, and educator who
counsels ArabAmerican youth like the
[31:25] ones you're hearing from today, I see
the heavy burden these young people
[31:29] carry as they navigate both typical
adolescent challenges while
[31:34] simultaneously enduring anti-Arab
racism, Islamophobia, and police
[31:39] violence. I refuse to stand by. The
behavior of Oaklan Police Department and
[31:45] this body is absolutely egregious.
Clearly, we are not the ones who need
[31:50] special monitoring.
You all do. And just like you're
[31:55] watching us, we're watching all of you.
We will not allow these violations to go
[32:02] unnotice and will continue to demand
accountability for Hadi Murad and the
[32:07] young person you attacked here three
weeks ago. You are in the public
[32:11] spotlight. and we will continue to show
up and we deserve transparency.
[32:18] We are calling for a public scrutinies
of these racist institutions
[32:24] and a fundamental shift of how you all
operate.
[32:27] » Thank you, ma'am.
[applause]
[32:35] » Lamese,
[32:40] » good evening. Are you an Oaklan
resident?
[32:42] » I live six minutes away from here.
>> Good.
[32:46] » I stand here today to express my
absolute disgust with the Oaklan Police
[32:51] Department, the Police and Fire
Commission, and the Village Board of
[32:55] Trustees and the mayor. Just under three
weeks ago, the Oaklan Police viciously
[33:01] assaulted a 14-year-old child after
denying him his right to speak during
[33:06] public comment.
All because the commission chair, Jim
[33:10] Baker, was upset about the content of a
speech. Baker falsely accused the child
[33:16] of being aggressive and thereby
forfeiting his right to speech to speak,
[33:22] which I remind you is a violation of the
First Amendment. A government official
[33:27] cannot refuse someone the right to speak
because they don't like the content of
[33:31] their speech. This is an eighth grade
civics.
[33:34] But clearly the basics of the law are
not strong points for the village and
[33:38] its police department.
Baker then called the police to remove
[33:42] the child and they immediately escalated
situation,
[33:47] dragging him backwards, lifting him off
the ground, slamming him into a counter
[33:52] in the back and then putting him in an
illegal chokeo chokeold. Again, perhaps
[33:57] the the Oaklan Village and the Oaklan
Police Department need to be given a law
[34:03] 101 lesson be- because choke holds are
illegal under Illinois law. And so this
[34:09] child was illegally denied his right to
speak, put in a chokeold, and viciously
[34:15] assaulted because the Oaklan Fire and
Police Commission did not like what he
[34:19] said. The Oak Oaklan Police then sent
six officers to the mother's home. six
[34:26] to harass the family. When her attorney
did the courtesy to reach out to try to
[34:31] schedule a time to for her to
voluntarily be processed, the police
[34:36] went back and harassed her family once
again.
[34:40] This is nothing short of a thinly veiled
attempt to scare the mother after
[34:44] assaulting her child and tr to try to
scare our community off.
[34:49] In fact, while she was being processed,
an Oak Lawn Police Department detective
[34:54] said to her attorney, "Well, you know,
this has been going on for over three
[34:58] years, and it's just getting to be too
much." And there it is, the real reason
[35:03] exposed for harassing this mother, a
cheap attempt to intimidate us. But
[35:08] guess what? We won't be intimidated.
We won't be silenced as long as justice
[35:14] continues to be denied by the Oaklan
Police Department and village to the
[35:18] numerous families in our community who
have had their rights denied and
[35:22] trampled on by this village and its
police.
[35:26] The extreme use of force by this police
department proves again that we have
[35:30] said for years now, racism runs deep in
[clears throat] Oak Lawn and if it's not
[35:35] rooted out, then no one is safe and none
of our children are safe. So, we will
[35:40] continue to to demand that the attorney
general's office launch an independent
[35:44] investigation Oklahoma Police
Department.
[35:47] » Thank you, ma'am.
>> We will.
[35:49] » Thank you.
>> Thank you.
[35:54] [applause]
[35:57] » Mo,
[36:00] » don't worry. I'm not a
>> Good evening. Are you an Oaklan
[36:04] resident?
>> No.
[36:05] » Oh, good. [clears throat]
[36:09] Good afternoon. I am a youth member of
the I honestly had a feeling that
[36:14] something like this would happen. This
police department attacked a 14-year-old
[36:18] kid, choked him, lifted him up, and
injured his arm, neck, chest, and ankle.
[36:25] The police and the board members that
day had so much pride after a minor
[36:30] called them out for mispronouncing the
easiest name in the room. The result of
[36:34] that pride was the removal of the
14-year-old kid by chokeold.
[36:40] And at the end, the police department
was exposed once more [clears throat]
[36:44] for their crimes against Arabs in the
community. Not only the crimes against
[36:49] the Arabs, but we know the response of
your officers. When a child is in their
[36:53] presence, they get assaulted. What kind
of department is this? The
[36:57] [clears throat] officers beat a
17-year-old kid nearly to death. And
[37:01] those three same cops are happily living
their life. No charges, no
[37:06] accountability, nothing. On the mor
case, [clears throat and snorts]
[37:11] your officers let a drunk lady run over
a man and let her go off with a slap on
[37:16] the wrist. Like seriously, is a life
worth $750 nowadays? And then your
[37:21] officers put their hands on a minor once
more after he said something that the
[37:25] board didn't like. Even the mother of
the minor was also attacked. They
[37:29] violently grabbed her arm and twisted
it. They then forced her out of the room
[37:34] as they did with many others. Then
Oaklan police proceeded to file bogus
[37:38] charges against the parent to pay
against the parents to pay them against
[37:44] the parents to pay themsel at the as the
victim. We we have been showing up year
[37:49] after year to demand justice for our
community. We are peaceful in these
[37:53] meetings. Even when we do disrupt, it is
still peaceful. The fire and police
[37:57] board you appointed escalates the
situation. Never have I ever witnessed a
[38:02] department more ill equipped in handling
than a situation.
[38:06] I was there the day the assault
happened. If you think if you think that
[38:10] those officers put fear in our
community, you thought wrong. In fact,
[38:14] we will keep showing up because we know
we keep us safe, not the cops.
[38:18] » Thank you. [applause]
[38:26] Nadia,
[38:30] » good evening. Nadia, are you an Oklahoma
president?
[38:33] » Uh, I live super close by.
>> Okay, good.
[38:36] » I'm going to start off with quoting
Illinois law under 720 ILCS 57-5.5.
[38:46] It reads, "A peace officer or any other
person acting under the color of law
[38:55] shall not use a chokehold or restraint
above the shoulders with with risk of
[39:03] asphix asphixiation
in the performance of his or her duties
[39:10] unless deadly force is justified under
this article.
[39:16] August 5th, 14-year-old ArabAmerican
stood up during the public comment
[39:23] portion of the monthly Oaklan Police and
Fire Commission board meeting. Um, the
[39:28] same microphone that I am speaking in,
corrected his name after Commissioner
[39:34] Chair Jim Baker mispronounced it. And of
course, that 14-year-old,
[39:41] as any youth in the community might use
language, called him a jackass.
[39:47] 20 seconds later, genuinely 20 seconds
after that happened, we witnessed the
[39:53] child being grabbed by multiple officers
in a circle right here in the middle of
[39:59] the room. He then was lifted up, slammed
down on that counter,
[40:06] and then we saw him placed in a chokeold
before being pushed out of the room and
[40:13] forced to exit down the stairs.
In all honesty, in that moment and right
[40:19] now, I am questioning what it takes to
be on not only the police and fire board
[40:25] commissioner meeting, but also an
officer in Oaklan. Because if that's the
[40:30] response that you give the community
that these officers have been giving the
[40:35] community years after years genuinely,
what does it take to be an officer? What
[40:41] does it take to sit on a board and
demand that people that are speaking in
[40:45] public comments? I don't like what they
say and I I'm going to kick all all of
[40:49] them out of the room.
[40:53] On the weekend following the assault of
the teenager, six Oaklan Police
[40:58] Department cops showed up to the
family's home in an attempt to
[41:00] intimidate and arrest the mother. In
addition, cops have targeted a staff
[41:06] organizer at the ArabAmerican Action
Network, leaving a note for them at a
[41:10] residence in Oaklan and even harassed a
teacher who had attended the police
[41:16] board meetings in which the teenager was
assaulted, egregoriously showing up at a
[41:21] Chicago school to ask to speak to them.
The assault of a minor comes five years
[41:29] about five years after the assault of
Hadi, a 17-year-old Arab-American teen
[41:34] who was restrained then beaten by three
Oaklan officers by the name of Patrick
[41:38] O'Donnell, Mark Collingsworth, and
Brandon Cullen.
[41:41] » Your time is up. Thank you,
[41:49] [applause]
>> Barry.
[41:57] Good [clears throat] evening.
Protocol, are you an Oakan resident?
[42:02] » I am not an Oaklan resident.
>> But the decisions made in this city,
[42:07] especially pertaining to the police
brutality and double standards regarding
[42:11] the killing of Murad Kurie has ripple
effects on minority groups all over
[42:16] Illinois. I am here demanding a full
investigation of the actions of police
[42:21] following the death of Marad Kurie. The
officers allowed the individual who hit
[42:26] and killed him, a white woman named
Leanne Cusack, go free with a traffic
[42:32] ticket after he confessed to drinking
and driving. May I remind you that the
[42:37] officers smelled alcohol on Leanne
Cusac. This incident along with the
[42:43] blatant lack of accountability and
consequences for the police officers who
[42:47] let Leanne tra Leanne Kusac go without
so much as a traffic ticket highlight
[42:53] the corruption innate in the Oaklan
Police Department.
[42:57] Morad Cert's killer is free because of
the actions of an officer from your
[43:02] department that you appointed. the same
department that assaulted a 14-year-old
[43:08] Arab American who was just coming up
here to express his First Amendment
[43:14] right and correct his name, a name that
um Jim Baker purposefully mispronounced
[43:22] and assaulted his mother and sent six
officers
[43:27] again from the department that you
appointed
[43:32] to his mother's home to intimidate and
harass her. The officers responsible
[43:39] need to be investigated fully and
independently like the violent criminals
[43:44] are. Thank you.
>> Thank you.
[43:53] » Nick,
[43:58] » good evening. Nick, are you an Oaklan
resident?
[44:01] » I have to answer that question with a
question. Would you take the honor of
[44:05] answering Fedia's question of what you
would do in her position?
[44:10] » This is public comments. It's not a
question and answer.
[44:13] » If this isn't a question and answer, I
have no reason to answer your question.
[44:16] You can have Oakan.
>> You don't have to answer it, sir. I
[44:18] » You can have Oakan police come up to my
house the same way they have
[44:21] » protocol protocol. Ask their residents.
You don't have to answer, sir.
[44:26] » Appreciate it. If you you can ask Chief
Vtorio, who's the first time I've seen
[44:30] him since Hadi was beaten
>> in public, or any of the cops to come
[44:34] find my address. They they know plenty
about us.
[44:38] To start, I've come here today like many
others to demand justice, not for one
[44:45] person, not for two people, for three
people.
[44:51] In just as almost just as many years,
three people from our community have
[44:58] seen the injustice of the police
department.
[45:01] And everyone on this board of trustees
has a responsibility.
[45:06] You play a role in everything that has
happened since the beating of Hadi
[45:11] Abata.
You play a role by having a board for
[45:16] police and the police and fire
commission board that you appoint
[45:21] that have a responsibility and the
ability to report to you guys at least
[45:27] once a year a recommendation on what
actions can take place to quote unquote
[45:31] better the police department.
You have a responsibility
[45:36] for a for a chief who won't even who
never even looked Fadia in the eye after
[45:41] her son was murdered. And we're going to
call it what it is. It was a murder. It
[45:45] wasn't a failure to reduce speed. It
wasn't worth a $750 ticket. It took
[45:51] Chief Ptorio's police
and every single cop in his department
[45:56] who played a role in those
investigations in beating a child and
[46:00] putting him into a concussion, in
allowing a murderer to get away and not
[46:05] get a blood draw. That comes from your
responsibility, too. your
[46:11] responsibilities to the people of this
village. Whether or not they are in this
[46:15] village and live in this village,
whether they are visiting this village,
[46:18] whether they're in coming to visit their
dying mother in the hospital, whether
[46:22] they're coming to visit their son,
whether they go to school here or not,
[46:25] you have a responsibility to the people
within this jurisdiction to take action.
[46:29] You have a responsibility to make clear
that when a child is put in a chokeold,
[46:37] an independent investigation is called
on. We've been calling Illinois Attorney
[46:42] General Rowell to investigate Oaklan's
police department. You too, as the board
[46:47] of trustees can do us that favor and
call for that investigation the same way
[46:53] we've been demanding from the police and
fire commission who continue to ignore
[46:56] us. It's been three years and there have
been at least three opportunities unless
[47:00] you the village president and board of
trustees choose to ask them for a
[47:04] recommendation on this issue. They have
that power to do that and they've
[47:07] ignored us. You have the power to do it.
Will you ignore us? That's a question I
[47:12] want to ask. You're not going to answer
in the same way I'm not going to answer
[47:15] you from where I whether or not I'm a
resident. [clears throat]
[47:19] But to make it clear, we have
continuously
[47:23] been at these meetings. And for the
woman who was taken into custody and
[47:27] charged to be told by the same pigs that
are in this room, by the leadership of
[47:33] Chief Vtorio, who won't even have the
courage to even face the police board
[47:37] when giving proposals to hire people.
>> Your time is up, sir. Thank you.
[47:40] » I did not hear it ring.
>> He heard pe He won't even show his face.
[47:43] » Your three minutes are up, sir.
>> To have to face accountability. Your
[47:46] three minutes are up
>> and you won't even take any action on
[47:49] it, sir.
>> Your three minutes are up.
[47:50] » Mark is the next speaker.
[47:55] [applause]
[47:59] » Good evening, sir. Are you an Oakan
resident?
[48:04] » No, but the stench of this police
department reaches the Blue Island where
[48:09] I live.
For decades,
[48:14] this village has had a reputation
well-earned for having violent, racist
[48:20] thugs as police officers.
[48:24] For decades, this has been going.
And all of you are in a position to put
[48:30] an end to it. All of you, each one of
you is responsible to put an end to
[48:36] this.
You know, we've inherited this culture
[48:40] of racism and white supremacy, but we
can take action to do something about
[48:45] it. And you folks are in a position to
do that here in Oaklan.
[48:50] Your police officers are violent, racist
thugs. They beat Hottie up so bad he
[48:57] ended up in the hospital. That was just
a few years ago.
[49:03] Then on top of that, when somebody runs
down Marad Kurie, you let the man go.
[49:10] You let the woman go.
So when people come to these village
[49:14] meetings to protest, to call for
justice, you're you people ignore them
[49:21] and brutalize them. All of these
meetings end up in cops shoving people
[49:26] around.
I'm tired of this. Also, when people
[49:31] show up for meetings, they're searched.
They're wandered down with a metal
[49:35] detector.
Like there's some kind of terrorists or
[49:39] some militia come to kill people. That's
ridiculous. These are members of the
[49:44] public coming to a public meeting. That
is just incredibly disgraceful.
[49:49] And then last meeting we had here, it
went way over the top where people the
[49:56] the chairman told people they weren't
allowed to speak during public comment.
[50:01] That is so ridiculous, so disgraceful,
so undemocratic.
[50:06] You folks are responsible for fixing
this And you better get ready and
[50:10] you better get on it because it's your
responsibility.
[50:14] [applause]
>> Thank you.
[50:20] Alec.
[50:25] Alec.
[50:33] » Good evening, Alex. Are you an Oakan
resident?
[50:36] » No, I'm not, but I live on the southwest
side of Chicago.
[50:39] » Thank you.
>> And I do have a lot of people in Oaklan.
[50:42] A lot of people that I love, a lot of
people that I grew up with and did spend
[50:45] a lot of my youth out here in the
Uh, I just want to say tonight that I've
[50:50] been coming here to the police and fire
commission meetings for three years. Uh,
[50:54] first demanding justice for Hedi
Abotella who was brutalized by the
[50:57] Oaklan police.
[51:01] Absolutely
[51:04] unethical. any of the things that the
Oaklan police do to Arab and minority
[51:10] communities in Oaklan. Um it was just
absolutely outrageous that that was the
[51:15] first thing that happened.
A year later, Marad Kurtie being
[51:20] murdered by a drunk driver
and receiving no justice, no
[51:24] acknowledgement from the commission
that's tasked with public safety in
[51:28] Oaklan, disrespecting the mother of
Morad, disrespecting the community than
[51:34] escalating their attacks against the
people that come here using their
[51:37] democratic rights, including myself. I
am a journalist. I am a documentarian.
[51:43] and your police department has thrown me
out of this room for doing nothing but
[51:47] exercising my constitutional rights to
document what they are doing to people
[51:52] that are here today in the way they have
brutalized teenagers and other people in
[51:55] this. So, the fact that they don't know
what the law is and they're tasked with
[51:59] law enforcement makes me think that
Oaklan is not safe for anyone. And as a
[52:04] person of color and someone that works
out here on the south side around Cook
[52:08] County throughout Chicago, it's known
that this is not safe for people that
[52:12] look like me. People that might be
driving with a broken out tail light.
[52:16] People that might just be trying to go
home from work and get hit by a drunk
[52:19] driver. People that might get brutalized
by the police in a pretextual stop. So
[52:23] this is why you need to on your own as
the village, you need to put a look into
[52:30] your police department. You need to look
at the fire commission that's supposed
[52:34] to be hiring these police officers and
putting in discipline and you need to
[52:38] remove them. And if you care about
public safety and you care about your
[52:41] police, clean it up because you got a
lot of racists there. You got a lot of
[52:46] people that don't look like me, that
don't look like all the people in this
[52:48] room out there doing whatever they want
without accountability.
[52:53] So we want justice from Rod. We want
justice for Hattie. We don't want to see
[52:56] any other teenagers. We don't want to
see any other people being choke,
[53:00] slammed, and violated by your police on
your taxpayers dimes. That's all I got.
[53:05] Thank you. [applause]
[53:11] » Ra.
[53:15] » Hi, Natty. Are you a Oakan resident?
>> No, I'm not. I'm a resident of Orland
[53:20] Park.
>> All right.
[53:22] After four years of consistent community
presence at the police and fireboard
[53:26] meetings, we continue to witness and
experience firsthand OLPD's abuse and
[53:31] violent nature against our community.
Police officers lock the front doors as
[53:36] soon as it hits 5:00 p.m. and unlock
them only minutes before the meeting
[53:39] start time. We are forced to stand in
file line in order to go through a
[53:45] security process where elders and minors
are wanted and patted down. a process
[53:49] implemented only after our community
started showing up to public meetings.
[53:54] The board on multiple occasions has
closed the meeting and ended public
[53:58] comment without allowing those listened
to speak even if they have not
[54:02] disrupted. The board has policed removed
community members based on the content
[54:06] of their speeches, violating our right
to free speech or even targeting and
[54:11] removing community members without due
justification.
[54:14] We have been disrespected, mocked,
taunted, and laughed at with
[54:18] inappropriate remarks by the entire
board. It's not just the current chair.
[54:23] It's also the former chair, Roland,
who's also guilty of this.
[54:28] By the entire board. And we have been
violently handled as cops aggressively
[54:32] put their hands on us as they quite
literally throw us out when we exercise
[54:36] our right to free speech and demand
justice often resulting in physical
[54:41] bruising and marks and or mental and
emotional harm. You cannot expect an
[54:48] entire community to stay silent and give
zero response when police beat a
[54:52] 17-year-old Arab-American boy named Hadi
almost to death and then a year later
[54:57] allow a white woman named Leanne Cust to
hit and kill a 28-year-old Arab-American
[55:03] man named Murad Kurie and then go home
without following proper pro protocol or
[55:08] law after she admits to drinking before
getting behind the wheel. This police
[55:13] department has a horrific violence and
racism problem. At the last fire and
[55:19] police board meeting, officers grabbed a
14-year-old Arab child, slammed him
[55:24] against a a counter, and choked him out
of the room. This is not only absolutely
[55:29] horrific, it is unacceptable that this
has to be unacceptable by the board
[55:33] here. This is something that the board
here has to state that this is
[55:37] unacceptable.
It is the responsibility of the mayor
[55:42] and the entire village board for the
nonsensical sick behavior and actions of
[55:48] both the police and fire commission and
also Oaklan Police Department. It is
[55:52] your responsibility to act. Mayor,
you've given your sympathy once before,
[55:58] but will you and your board actually do
something about this? We do not want
[56:03] sympathy. We want justice for our
community. It is your police who
[56:07] violently assaulted a 14-year-old child
while he was exercising his right to
[56:12] free speech. Your police officers act
with imputiny and commit atrocious
[56:17] crimes because they know that they will
be protected. By protecting them, you
[56:22] are normalizing violence as acceptable
behavior in order to uphold OOLPD's
[56:27] racist system that only harms us.
>> Thank you. Your time is up. Thank you.
[56:39] Muhammad,
[56:43] » good evening, Muhammad. Are you an
Oakland resident?
[56:47] » Good evening.
>> Good evening.
[56:51] » How interesting to be here again. Uh,
you know, I have a long memory. I've
[56:55] been coming here for a few years to
every single police fire commission
[56:59] board meeting. I also came to the first
village board meeting in which uh
[57:05] yourself [snorts] and the other trustees
I assume organized a bunch of supporters
[57:11] to stitch together a 36-inute propaganda
video of police officers around the
[57:16] country getting shot at at dut on duty
or something and one after the other
[57:21] came up and gave the rest of their time
to the video. And then after we demanded
[57:25] that we be allowed to show video in the
police and uh fire commission meeting um
[57:31] they came out with rules that video
can't be shown. You can't pass time for
[57:35] other people. You can't do any of these
other things. Um I remember when Chief
[57:40] Vtorio stood up and said talked about
the uh Arabics in Oaklan.
[57:47] I remember when uh Veter who used to be
on the department said that Fedya Miss
[57:53] Muhammad was exploiting her son's death
for money.
[58:00] » I remember when WBEZ in 2023 dropped a
report that said 36.3%
[58:05] of all traffic stops in Oaklan were
against black drivers.
[58:12] I think we can probably assume that
36.3%
[58:16] of Oaklan's population is not black.
And I remember when officer Patrick
[58:22] O'Donnell was charged with the brutal
assault of Hadi Abuila and almost every
[58:28] single officer in this department showed
up in uniform at Cook County on 26th in
[58:34] California as a show of force in support
of a man who beat a child almost to
[58:39] death.
And so, no, I'm not surprised that the
[58:43] Oaklan police just 20 days ago used an
illegal chokeold against a small boy.
[58:50] And no, I'm not surprised that you all
spent more resources going after his
[58:55] mother than you did in investigating the
death of Murad Kurie. I remind you, no
[59:01] Oaklan officers even went to the bar
that Leanne Cusack had been drinking at
[59:06] until her private attorney began to
investigate it.
[59:10] And so, no, I'm not surprised that I'm
here again. And you all shouldn't be
[59:14] surprised that we're going to continue
to be here again and again because you
[59:19] have made it very clear and the Oakan
Police Department has made it very clear
[59:24] that you are not interested in any kind
of justice. You are not interested in
[59:27] any kind of accountability and very
clearly you believe in a system of might
[59:32] makes right in which a 14-year-old can
be slammed into a counter, put into an
[59:38] illegal chokeold and the result of that
is not hey maybe we should figure out
[59:42] what went wrong and instead hey here's a
shitty AI generated police um comm's
[59:49] report that we sent out to the press
today
[59:52] and these people at the ArabAmerican
Action Network are organizing juveniles
[59:57] to act illegally inside of our police
commission board meetings. It's
[1:00:00] ridiculous.
>> Time is up, sir.
[1:00:02] » And so what I will SAY IS, HEY, OAKLAND,
[screaming]
[1:00:05] WHAT DO YOU KNOW?
>> HEY OAKLAND, WHAT DO YOU KNOW?
[1:00:08] » THESE COPS LET A KILLER GO.
>> THESE COPS LET A KILLER GO.
[1:00:12] » HEY [screaming] OAKLAND, WHAT DO YOU
KNOW?
[1:00:15] » HEY OAKLAND, WHAT DO YOU KNOW?
>> THESE COPS LET A KILLER GO.
[1:00:19] » THESE COPS LET A KILLER GO. JUSTICE FOR
>> JUSTICE FOR TURKEY.
[1:00:26] » JUSTICE FOR [screaming] TURKEY.
>> JUSTICE FOR TURKEY.
[1:00:31] » SAY HIS NAME.
>> TURKEY.
[1:00:33] » Say his name.
>> Turkey.
[1:00:35] » Say his name.
>> Turkey.
[1:00:38] » Say his name.
>> Turkey.
[1:00:40] » Justice for who?
>> JUSTICE FOR WHO?
[1:00:45] » TURKEY.
>> JUSTICE FOR WHO?
[1:00:48] » Say his name.
[1:00:59] » [cough]
[1:01:05] » Mayor, there are no public no more
public comments.
[1:01:10] » All right, this is the end of public
comment. Would you please officer shut
[1:01:13] the door so we can continue with village
business?
[1:01:24] You can you can leave that one open,
guys.
[1:01:26] » Yeah, leave that one open. That one can
stay open. Close this one.
[1:01:30] » They're not making any noise. I leave
the door open.
[1:01:32] » Okay.
>> As long as they're not making any noise,
[1:01:36] we can leave the doors open. If they're
disruptive, we'll close them.
[1:01:42] » All right. Conflict of interest. Does
any trustee have any conflict with any
[1:01:46] item on this agenda?
Hearing none, we'll move on to new
[1:01:50] business by village trustee that we will
start in district six. Trusty Sach,
[1:01:55] » no new business.
>> Uh district five,
[1:01:58] » nothing at this time. Thank you.
district.
[1:02:01] » Uh ju just one item is um in my
district, District 4, the one of the
[1:02:06] local churches, the World Society Church
of God is partnering with the American
[1:02:10] Red Cross for a blood drive uh on
August. No, March 16th.
[1:02:15] » March.
>> Yep. The 2020
[1:02:19] of 2027. No.
>> Yeah, that would be 20. It's a long
[1:02:22] date.
>> Yeah, I got the wrong date, but it's
[1:02:24] coming up. I got I got to look.
>> All right. It's I I'll have it for the
[1:02:29] next meeting. I think it's in September.
>> Yeah, they they invited me, too, but I I
[1:02:33] I never noted the date.
>> Yeah, you know, I
[1:02:40] » It's a very good church. They do a lot
of good public work for the community.
[1:02:44] Anything else, trustee?
>> Uh that's the only thing. [snorts]
[1:02:47] » All right. District three.
>> Thank you, mayor. Um I do have uh just
[1:02:52] things from the events commission. Um
this Sunday, August 30th, will be the
[1:02:57] last uh Sunday concert. Um that will be
starting at 6 o'clock. Um then, uh three
[1:03:04] weeks away, we are fall music festival.
Um that starts on September 11th and
[1:03:10] 12th. And so um you know, like to invite
the village of Oklahoma out. Um it's uh
[1:03:16] usually a good time for friends and
family come by. So thank you. Look
[1:03:19] forward to that. Thank you.
>> All right. District one. None at this
[1:03:22] time.
>> Thank you. Okay, we'll move on to the
[1:03:24] village manager.
>> Uh, no new business.
[1:03:26] » All right, we'll move on to consent
agenda. All items on the consent agenda
[1:03:29] are routine and brought forward at the
direction of the board of trustees,
[1:03:33] village manager, village committees and
will be enacted in one motion. If
[1:03:36] discussion is desired, that item will be
removed from the consent agenda and
[1:03:41] considered separately.
A, approval of the regular meeting
[1:03:45] minutes of 2026-13
dated July 28th, 2026
[1:03:51] B. Ordinance 26-14-42,
an ordinance amending title 2, Board of
[1:03:57] Commissioners, Chapter 2, Appeals and
Review Board, section 2-25.
[1:04:04] This is reference to meetings of the
Oklahoma Village Code relative to the
[1:04:08] regular meeting dates of the Appeals and
Review Board. C. Ordinance 26-14-43,
[1:04:16] an ordinance amending title 3 business
and license regulations and title 4
[1:04:21] zoning regulations of the village of
Oklahoma code to establish a class GFT,
[1:04:27] that's a gun smithing and firearm
transfer license. D. Ordinance 2614-44.
[1:04:36] an ordinance amending chapter 6-9 of the
Oakan Village Code renaming the Ulanon
[1:04:43] affordable keystone known as Oak O
residential construction and sales
[1:04:49] program as a special homestead exemption
building program and adopting purchase
[1:04:55] and owner occupancy requirements and
form permanent owner occupancy and no
[1:05:01] rental restrictive covenant.
E. Ordinance 26-14-45,
[1:05:08] an ordinance amending the village of
Oklahoma Village Code relative to
[1:05:11] nonowner occupied residential dwellings
unit permit year. F ordinance 26-14-46
[1:05:21] an ordinance amending title 3 business
and license regulations and title 8
[1:05:27] health and sanitation of the village of
Oklahoma village code relative to
[1:05:31] business registration requirements
exemptions and fee
[1:05:37] G resolution 26-14-64
[1:05:42] a resolution waving competitive bidding
and approving a proposal from William
[1:05:46] Quinn and Son
Incorporated to restore Commonwealth
[1:05:49] Edison corridor landscaping areas
associated with bid package number six
[1:05:55] of the regional water project in the
amount not to exceed $90,679.96.
[1:06:04] H resolution 26-14-65
[1:06:09] a resolution authorizing the release of
certain executive session minutes. I
[1:06:14] resolution 26-14-66,
[1:06:18] a resolution approving a proposal from
Strand Associates Incorporated for
[1:06:23] engineering services for the community
development block grant cured in place
[1:06:28] pipe sanitary sewer rehabilitation
project in the amount not to exceed
[1:06:33] $44,000.
J resolution 26-14-67
[1:06:39] a resolution approving a proposal from
Strand Associates Incorporated for
[1:06:44] engineering services for the community
development block grant cured in place
[1:06:49] sanitary sewer rehabilitation project in
the amount not to exceed $48,000.
[1:06:56] K. Resolution 26-14-68,
[1:07:00] a resolution approving change order
number five in the amount of $7,715
[1:07:09] for water main emergency repairs related
to the Polaris Water Detention Project.
[1:07:14] L resolution 26-14-68,
a resolution approving a proposal from
[1:07:21] Strand Associates Incorporation for the
NPDC
[1:07:25] ECMS MS4 storm water management planning
engineering services in the amount not
[1:07:32] to exceed $39,500.
M res resolution 26-14-69
[1:07:41] a resolution prop uh approving a
proposal from RJN Group Incorporated for
[1:07:47] the 2026 sanitary sewer system smoke
testing and data analysis services in
[1:07:54] the amount not to exceed $99,400
and resolution 26-14-70
[1:08:03] a resolution approving current ownership
disclosure of Fair Play Incorporated and
[1:08:09] authorizing interference of a
replacement business class liquor P1
[1:08:15] liquor license for Fair Play Foods at
8700 South Cicero Avenue.
[1:08:21] » Motion to approve.
>> Second.
[1:08:23] » Second.
>> Any discussion?
[1:08:25] Any discussion? Hearing none. Call the
vote, please.
[1:08:29] » Trusty Melo.
>> Yes.
[1:08:31] » Trusty Stalker.
>> Yes.
[1:08:32] » Trusty Warren.
>> Yes. Trusty Sock.
[1:08:35] » Yes.
>> Trusty Penrook.
[1:08:37] » Yes. Motions pass. A village clerk's
report.
[1:08:41] » We have dispersement resolution number
2026-15D
[1:08:45] dated August 11th, 2026 in the amount of
8,763,964.77.
[1:08:55] » Motion, please.
>> Motion approve.
[1:08:56] » Second.
>> Second. Roll call.
[1:08:59] » Trusty Melo.
>> Yes.
[1:09:00] » Trusty Stalker.
>> Yes.
[1:09:02] » Trusty Warren. Yes.
>> Trusty Sock.
[1:09:04] » Yes.
>> Trusty Penrook.
[1:09:06] » Yes.
>> Motion passes.
[1:09:08] » First resolution number 2026-16D
dated August 25th, 2026 in the amount of
[1:09:16] 7,330,96929.
[1:09:21] » Motion, please.
>> Motion to approve.
[1:09:23] » Second.
>> Second.
[1:09:24] » Roll call.
>> Trusty Malo.
[1:09:26] » Yes.
>> Trusty Stalker.
[1:09:28] » Yes.
>> Trusty Warren.
[1:09:29] » Yes.
>> Trusty Sack.
[1:09:31] » Yes.
>> Trusty Penrook. All right, madame clerk
[1:09:34] pillage
president's report. A, we'll take each
[1:09:37] one of these at a time. A ordinance
26-14-47,
[1:09:43] an ordinance amending ordinance number
26-09-23
[1:09:48] to clarify licensed premises increasing
the number of class LIQ-
[1:09:55] C liquor licenses by one and authorizing
the issuance of an additional class LIQ-
[1:10:04] liquor license by the village of Oaklaw.
That's for Zo Sports Bar and Grill LLC.
[1:10:11] Doing business is Uncle Buds Bar and
Grill. 9708 9710 Cisero Avenue,
[1:10:18] Oklahoma, Illinois. Motion.
>> Motion approve.
[1:10:21] » We [snorts] got first and second.
>> Yes.
[1:10:23] » Okay. Roll call.
>> Trusty Melo.
[1:10:25] » Yes.
>> Trusty Stalker.
[1:10:27] » Yes.
>> Trusty Warren.
[1:10:29] » Yes.
>> Trusty Sock.
[1:10:30] » Yes.
>> Trusty Penrook.
[1:10:32] » Yes.
>> Motion passes. Ordinance 26-14-48,
[1:10:36] an ordinance authorizing the issuance of
a class 2 tobacco retailer license by
[1:10:41] the village of Oklahoma due to a change
in ownership. Uh that's Blaze Hayes
[1:10:47] Incorporating doing business as Bla1
Hayes, 9241
[1:10:52] South Cicero Avenue, Oklahoma. Motion,
please.
[1:10:56] » Motion to approve.
>> Second.
[1:10:58] » Second.
>> Roll call.
[1:10:59] » Trusty Mow.
>> Yes.
[1:11:01] » Trusty Stalker.
>> Yes. Trusty Warren,
[1:11:03] » yes.
>> Trusty Sock,
[1:11:05] » yes.
>> Trusty Penrook,
[1:11:06] » yes.
>> Motion passes. C is ordinance 26-14-49,
[1:11:11] an ordinance authorizing the issuance of
a class one tobacco retailer license by
[1:11:17] the village of Oklahoma due to a change
in ownership. Uh that's Oklahoma LLC
[1:11:22] doing business at the Shell Gas at 9800
South Cro Avenue, Oklahoma, Illinois.
[1:11:28] Motion
>> approve.
[1:11:30] » Second. Roll call.
>> Trusty Malow.
[1:11:33] » Yes.
>> Trusty Stalker.
[1:11:35] » Yes.
>> Trusty Warren.
[1:11:37] » Yes.
>> Trusty Sack.
[1:11:38] » Yes.
>> Trusty Pemrook.
[1:11:40] » All right. We need a motion to go into
executive session number 20 26-06
[1:11:45] for the purpose of discussing one the
close meeting minutes 2026-05
[1:11:50] dated July 25th 2026 and a settlement
claim. Motion please.
[1:11:57] » Motion to approve.
>> Second.
[1:11:58] » Roll call.
>> Trusty Melo. Yes.
[1:12:01] » Trusty Stalker.
>> Yes.
[1:12:03] » Trusty Warren.
>> Yes.
[1:12:04] » Trusty Sack.
>> Yes.
[1:12:05] » Trusty Penrook.
>> Thank you. This ends our public portion
[1:12:08] of the meeting. Thanks for sticking
around.