* On March 3rd, state Sen. Michael Bond introduced a resolution…
WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to learn of the death of Mycol Jermaine French of Zion, who passed away on February 1, 2010; and…
WHEREAS, He loved to joke around; his pride was his business “The Booth,” a photography and music studio; he loved technology, dogs, and spending time with his family…
Sen. Bond has introduced 43 “memorial” resolutions since February of 2009. They’re pretty common. Families are sent a copy of the resolution, which can be comforting.
But this resolution was a bit different. It turns out that French was shot to death by the police while he was allegedly trying to run them over…
Three north suburban drug task force officers were injured and a suspect was killed following a traffic stop late Monday afternoon.
The suspect had prior run-ins with police, the Lake County News-Sun reports.
Illinois State Police Master Sgt. Isaiah Vega said the Lake County Metropolitan Enforcement Group officers made a traffic stop at approximately 1 p.m. near Green Bay Road and 24th Street.
As the officers approached, the driver put the car in motion and struck two of the officers. One officer fired his weapon into the vehicle, striking the driver, identified as Mycol French, 29.
Oops.
Bond claimed that a staffer copied the info from an obituary, which didn’t list the cause of death. And now he’s doing some serious backtracking in the wake of a local uproar…
Mundelein Police Chief Raymond Rose, a member of the task force’s advisory board, said Thursday night he found the resolution “outrageous.” […]
Told that Bond said it was a mistake made by staff, Rose said “there should be some editing of this practice.”
Rose said French had three outstanding warrants at the time officers tried to arrest him at a location where a drug deal was taking place.
“For the Senate of the state of Illinois to be recognizing a violent drug dealer is just outrageous,” he said. “This guy is a serious player.”
Bond said he plans to issue an official statement apologizing for the resolution and continue his calls to law enforcement to explain the mistake. He said he has worked with the task force in the past to pass legislation to help their work.
Bond is a Tier One target and those Republican mailers are gonna write themselves.
* And, now, a legislative roundup…
* Illinois school consolidation billed as cost-cutter, but data say otherwise
* Amateur mixed martial arts in Illinois sees less oversight
* New controls on red-light cameras
* State Senate tightens use of red-light cameras
* Illinois Senate Votes To Ease Up On Red Light Tickets
* Curbs on red-light camera tickets OK’d in state Senate
* Illinois House passes bill to slow down excessive speeders
* State Senate OKs school vouchers
* Illinois Senate Approves School Vouchers
* State senate approves voucher test program
* Keep state out of how cities evaluate police
* CVS Caremark Task Force Probe Includes Connecticut, Illinois
* Health law to expand access to Ill. high-risk pool
- Anonymous 10:46 - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 10:53 am:
– “Bond claimed that a staffer copied the info from an obituary, which didn’t list the cause of death.”
Sounds like a Madigoon run campaign to me!
- 47th Ward - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 10:57 am:
Not sure which is worse: memoralizing a alleged drug dealer who was shot by police or blindly introducing memorial resolutions out of the obituary page.
Blaming the staffer is a real classy way to handle it too. Bond ought to man up, apologize and never let it happen again.
- re think - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 11:04 am:
The drug war leads to yet more violence. What a shock. What do they call a society that keeps banging its head against the wall hoping there might be a different result?
- dave - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 11:07 am:
**The drug war leads to yet more violence.**
Yea… i would be more excited if the resolution stated sadness about the loss of life due to the pointless and ineffective war on drugs.
- Pat Robertson - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 11:13 am:
It’s doesn’t excuse Bond for introducing the resolution or for blaming the staffer, but my first thought is that the obituary’s description might be just as true as the allegations in the reports of the shooting. Must be getting to close to Good Friday. Whatever French ultimately became, he was somebody’s little baby.
- Stretch - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 11:20 am:
“Sounds like a Madigoon run campaign to me!”
No Madigan staffer would have let that one slip through
- dupage dan - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 11:29 am:
Pat Robertson,
=Whatever French ultimately became, he was somebody’s little baby.
So are the police he tried to kill.
- OneMan - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 11:37 am:
Considering the number of people who die in his district every year, what qualifies someone to get a resolution from him?
- 4 Percent - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 11:39 am:
If they were simply clipping obits from the newspaper, I would suspect there would be far more than 43 resolutions in more than a year. My guess is he was asked to do it and complied.
- Anonymous 10:46 - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 11:46 am:
== No Madigan staffer would have let that one slip through ==
Ya think?
I watched top level Madigoons send the organization’s top door knockers to walk a precinct outside the district they were working - the crew there hasn’t been right since that guy from Liberty U took charge!
- Secret Square - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 11:51 am:
I wouldn’t think ANY legislator or staffer would introduce such a resolution without first being asked to do so. Otherwise, as 4 Percent says, there would be gazillions of these resolutions every year.
Assuming that a relative or friend of the deceased asked Bond for the resolution, I’d think that Bond or his staff person would at the very least have asked the requestor how and when French died. Perhaps the requestor didn’t tell them the whole truth — said it was a car wreck, or an unspecified accident — and the staff person took their word for it?
- BigCaesar - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 12:09 pm:
With all of the major items being considered in Springfield, it is easy for a resolution like this to slip through the cracks. I don’t think Senator Bond would have ever introduced this resolution had staff done its due diligence.
Mistakes happen. At least he admitted it and apologized, unlike many others.
Mistakes happen
- P. - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 1:30 pm:
Whereas … My staffer did something very dumb …
- wordslinger - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 2:09 pm:
–Sounds like a Madigoon run campaign to me!–
They’re in the majority, right?
- anon 10:46 - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 2:16 pm:
If Bond’s operation was being run by a local who followed local news (instead of reading and acting as a sock puppet here) this kind of mistake would never have happened - it’s not that hard to put a recent death together with a name associated with driving down law enforcement officers.
Stinks of Springfield - but I should correct myself - instead of Madigoon this is the work of Cullertoons (combination of the Senate Prez and cartoon!)
- anon 10:46 - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 2:28 pm:
-They’re in the majority, right?-
Well duh! This ain’t Utah!
Didn’t the current majority party draw the legislative map?
Methinks their hold on power is more a tribute to the state’s demographics (and their control of the remap process) than it is a tribute to the savvy of the staff, but that’s just the perspective of this one left leaning independent, your mileage may vary!
- been there - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 3:07 pm:
in the 70’s there was a rep who had his secretary send a condolence form letter to the family of anyone who died in his district. it wasn’t noticed until several hundreds of the letters had been sent that they said, “my condolences on the loss of your dead one”.
- colt 45 - Friday, Mar 26, 10 @ 7:21 pm:
to blame staff is corporate. to accept responsibility is public service. as a bond constituent, i cannot wait until november to remove him from office.