Agitation Rising previously reported that the Bloomington City Council would have to approve the EAGLE intergovernmental agreement between the McLean County Deputies Office and the Bloomington Police Department (BPD). This is not the case. The EAGLE agreement requires each agency funds its own equipment and training. Funding for BPD’s SWAT team has already been appropriated by the Bloomington City Council, and the agreement would not require additional funding for BPD.
Agitation Rising also implied that Task Force 6 had its own separate SWAT team. This is untrue. Task Force 6 relies on the SWAT teams of its constituent members.
Based on the Federal lawsuit filed by Taylor Brown against the Town of Normal, Agitation Rising reported that Brown is a college student. Upon further investigation, there does not appear to be any evidence Brown was enrolled at any educational institution. Brown’s roommate, Ashontis Davis, who alleges Taylor Brown set the fire at their house, stated Brown was a student at Paul Mitchell Beauty School. Davis said Brown was suspended from the beauty school and was not enrolled anywhere at the time of the fire on February 8th, 2023. Agitation Rising confirmed with Paul Mitchell Beauty School that Brown was a student last year but was not a student at the time of the fire. All videos and articles have been updated removing the claim Brown is a college student.
Stats from the McLean County Jail, accurate as of March 21st, 2023:
Jail population: 216
Proportions by gender: are female: 35 (16%) are male: 181 (84%)
Proportions by race: Black: 110 (50%) Other Minority: 13 (6%) Persons of a Colonial Complexion: 96 (44%)
Number of people over 50: 25 (12%) Number of people sentenced: 13 (6%) Number of people pretrial (felony): 186 (86%) Number of people pretrial (misdemeanors): 8 (4%) Number of people pretrial for drug offenses: 67 (31%) Number of out of county residences: 68 (31%) Number of people prescribed mental health medication: 65 (30%)
Average Population Data between December 1st, 2022-March 21st, 2023
Several McLean County Republicans, like Sheriff Jon Sandage and District 10 County Board member Chuck Erickson, claim District 7 Board Member Sharon Chung repeatedly, viciously, and with extreme malice attacks the Sheriff every chance she gets. Agitation Rising investigates these claims only to discover the SHOCKING truth!
As DSA BloNo hemorrhaged active membership, the trend was for autonomous groups to form in its absence.
Afro-Socialists & Socialists of Color Caucus continues to exist. They are a space for people of color to organize autonomously. They continue to focus on base building by performing events and outreach to the community: swim lessons, COVID-19 vaccine clinics, fine art events, etc. Their email address is afrosocblono@gmail.com.
The Bloomington-Normal Tenant’s Union is an organization created to provide resources to tenant’s and defend tenant’s rights, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. They are a vehicle for renting class solidarity and empowerment in the BloNo IL area.
BloNo is home to its very own chapter of the Communist Party USA. During the flooding that occurred last summer, Summer 2021, their members volunteered helping many people whose basements had flooded get the problem fixed (the BN Tenant’s Union was also involved in this effort). Furthermore, the CP continues outreach to the community by holding monthly family picnics during warmer weather.
The BloNo Socialist Feminists group aims to educate the Bloomington-Normal community on issues that affect marginalized genders and building solidarity through awareness, advocacy, and empowerment. Their past work includes outreach to the community through public events, addressing food insecurity, and public education.
The BloNo Socialist Feminists is a group that grew out of DSA BloNo’s Socialists-Feminist Working Group. Like Afro-Soc, they are completely autonomous from DSA.
Currently, their Facebook page is the best way to contact them.
The Central Illinois solidarity-Research Collective (CIRC) is dedicated to helping organizations & individuals request information from public bodies. CIRC is intended to be a resource for all Leftists across Central Illinois and is not limited just to the Bloomington-Normal area. This research is important to guarantee transparent & accountable government. Every person has a right to access most government records. CIRC specializes in requesting police records and helping individuals file complaints again local law enforcement. CIRC is also involved in lobbying legislation and educating the people on changes to various laws and statutes. CIRC is an all-volunteer organization.
CIRC grew out of DSA Blono’s Solidarity Research Working Group. Like Afro-Soc and BloNo Socialist Feminists, CIRC is completely autonomous from DSA.
Those looking to get involved in CIRC should fill out this contact form and someone will be in touch with them. No previous experience doing research is required. Individuals can also email the organization at cisolidarityresearch@gmail.com. GET INVOLVED IN CIRC!
If you’d like your organization added to this list, please send an email to zgetco@gmail.com with your org’s name, contact info, a short description of the group, and any active projects the org is engaged in.
For the second time in two months, the Afro-Soc Caucus of BloNo DSA is publically calling out alleged abusive behavior by BloNo DSA members, including the few remaining leaders of the Executive Committee.1
The Caucus alleges, “The slander and character assassination of targeted members of color represents numerous violations of our Community Agreements and Chapter Bylaws, including our Harassment & Grievance policy… the harassment, the smear campaigns, and the move to reduce our members of color has been persistent. Members of color who have spoken out against this abuse and bullying have simply been made targets themselves for defending any victims. Additionally, we have witnessed members of the Chapter’s Executive Committee participate in and support wild conspiracy theories that undermine our election.”
As reported previously, the Caucus released a statement on October 17th, 2021 condemning the alleged widespread abuse of power and anti-democratic strategies of DSA BloNo’s leadership. All four Harassment Grievance Officers (HGOs), including Afro-Soc co-chair Sonny Garcia, resigned from their positions in the chapter with some leaving the organization entirely.
According to this new statement, the alleged abuse has only gotten worse.
The October statement was passed by a majority vote (5-1) at a meeting, including co-chair Ann Simmons. At least two other Afro-Soc members (including co-chair Sonny Garcia) who did not get a chance to vote have stated they did not support the statement and did not believe it would have passed the full Caucus membership of 25. No other member who did not vote has come forward with their opposition, that I am aware of. This new statement passed 7-4 seemingly falsifying this argument.
There is an election for new Exec members (Co-Chair, Secretary, Public Relations Officer, and Treasurer) and HGOs next Saturday, December, 18, 2021. So far, all candidates running have not been in leadership prior and most are running unopposed.
Jenngate was a local political phenomena of the Left in May of 2021, when then-Alderperson Carrillo (who uses they/them pronouns) wrote a series critiquing the Bloomington-Normal chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, and I removed their access to JustBloNo.net prior to my own response being published where I levied a biting critique of their series. In response to my article, Carrillo issued a cease-fire between the various Leftist camps involved. Jenngate was ultimately a collapse of solidarity among the BloNo Left that had taken a decade to build starting with the Occupy Movement in 2011. It’s taken months to properly analyze the situation and its aftermath, only to come to the conclusion that serious fissures exist on the BloNo Left that may take years to heal.
Did you miss the exciting phenomena that was #JennGate? Worry not for you can still re-live all the straw-people, red herrings, reductio ad absurdums, and ad hominems that transpired:
