Published: 09/11/2019
With one word, embattled Peoria At-Large City Council member Zach Oyler dashed the hopes of anyone thinking he may actually take personal responsibility for his actions. For over a month, Councilman Oyler has remained silent on allegations of domestic abuse. It almost seemed like Oyler’s political career might outlive the controversy of #OylerGate. All charges had been dropped and rumors of reconciliation ran amok.
But, on Wednesday, September 4th, Peoria States Attorney formally charged Oyler “with domestic battery and interfering with a report of domestic battery in Peoria County.” Each is a class A misdemeanor punishable by up to 364 days in jail and/or a fine of up to $2500. Oyler is due in court Wednesday, September 11th, in Judge John Vespa’s courtroom at 1:15 p.m. to address these charges.
At the City Council meeting on September 10th, 2019, two central Illinois activists stood amidst a sea of silence & complicity to condemn Councilman Oyler for his alleged crimes. Jimena Lopez and Zachary Gittrich1 both gave lengthy statements addressing these serious crimes. Below are the videos and transcripts of each speech:
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Hello Mr. Oyler. My name is Jimena Lopez and I live here in Peoria.
I am very concerned about the fact that after the incidents of the last few weeks you have yet to make the decision of handing in your resignation to your city council seat. I understand that you put a lot of effort on your campaign, but let me remind you of the fact that you ran as a servant leader and nothing about the way you handled yourself shows that you are the leader that you promised to be. I have seen people in your situation many, many times throughout my career and if I’ve learned one thing from the center for prevention of abuse is that things won’t get better if the abuser doesn’t take responsibility for their actions, and that if that first step is not taken, the abuse will happen again.
This council as a whole has a terrible record of holding their own accountable, so it’s left to people like me to do so. Now, I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow when you go to court, but your attorney has already told the press, he cannot wait to go to trial, which tells me you have no intention of taking responsibility for your actions. I do not want a person like that to make decisions that affect my city, so I will ask you again, please resign Mr. Oyler.
Thank you.
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I’m here to address the elephant in the room. I want to talk about the allegations of domestic abuse by Councilman Oyler.
On July 31st, Zach Oyler was arrested for charges of aggravated domestic battery, interfering with a report of domestic violence and unlawful restraint. He was later released from jail on a $100 bond. The survivor of the incident claims Oyler, in a drunken fury, took her phone away, threw her to the ground, and put his arm against her neck. Police later recorded evidence of bruising and cuts on the survivor. In the order of protection filed the next day, there are also allegations of sexual assault. Since this incident, Councilman Oyler has made no statement regarding these allegations. Charges were initially dropped in this case, but now Oyler faces charges of domestic battery and interfering with a report of domestic violence.
Many people, including probably some of you here in the horseshoe, believe we should uphold the principle of innocent until proven guilty under the law. Councilman Oyler does have due process rights after all. And I’m not here to disagree. I think due process is very important. The amount of process due an individual by the state in a criminal trial is extremely high for a reason, because the stakes are so high. However, the amount of process due Zach Oyler by his constituents is much lower. Oyler’s constituents have a right to demand and receive answers from their elected officials if they have reason to distrust that individual. And Zach Oyler has a duty to provide some form of defense to these allegations.
But he hasn’t done that. All the people of Peoria have to rely on is the survivor’s allegations and the police incident report. Based on this alone we can assume with some certitude that at least one crime was committed by Oyler. In the police incident report Oyler admitted to taking his survivor’s phone away which means he admitted to the police he “interfered with a report of domestic violence.“ This is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to 364 days in jail and/or a fine of up to $2500. This isn’t some minor infraction like jaywalking or smoking weed. This law was put in place to protect domestic abuse survivors. And because Oyler has made no statement, his constituents have no option but to believe this happened as he himself admitted.
I find it highly hypocritical that an alleged servant-leader refuses to answer to his constituents. It seems the alleged servant-leader doesn’t actually believe he owes them anything. What happened to personal responsibility? Alleged Conservatives are always harping about personal responsibility until it actually involves them. Even Beth Akeson, when she said something kooky at least had the intestinal fortitude to stand in front of the public and defend her actions. Is it really true that Councilman Oyler is allegedly too cowardly to defend himself to his constituents?
If these allegations are true, which is see no reason not to believe at this point since our alleged servant-leader has said nothing, then Oyler should resign post haste. Now, I know Oyler has been telling his friends and tenants that these allegations are false or blown out of proportion. I know he’s been telling everyone privately his survivor has mental health issues as a means to delegitimize his survivor’s claims. And I think it’s pretty despicable to use someone’s health against them like that.
Lastly, I want to condemn the silence of the rest of the council. Most of you publicly state your opposition to law-breakers and abusers, but when it actually comes time to do something, ya’ll remain just as silent as this alleged abuser here. I know you can’t vote him off the horseshoe, but at the very least you could pressure him publicly to make a statement. Why should any abuse survivor in this town trust city council to defend them when you won’t even demand answers from an alleged abuser in your midst? Have you all forgotten that every one of you is an alleged constituent of Oyler? Do you not think the rest of Peoria deserves answers?
The bottom line is Peorians should not have to wait a year or more for a trial to finish, all the while someone who has lost the trust of the people continues to make decisions for them. This alleged servant-leader needs to address these issues, and if these allegations are true, he has a duty to resign.
Whether Councilman Oyler can weather this controversy or not depends on one thing. If local activists come together and keep the pressure up.
UPDATE: On October 16th, 2020, Councilmember Zach Oyler took an Alford plea to disorderly conduct as part of an agreement to have other charges stemming from a July 2019 domestic incident dropped. Oyler & his wife have reconciled. (SEE FULL DETAILS)
