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MADISON - ST. CLAIR RECORD

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Son of Illinois representative launches diatribe against police in wake of protests, riots

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The son of Illinois Rep. Katie Stuart has launched a diatribe against law enforcement, including stating "f*** every single police officer that has still kept his job."

In an email to the Record, Rep. Stuart, a Democrat representing the 112th District, said, "My son is not a spokesperson for my office. He is an adult who can speak for himself and your questions would be appropriately posed to him."

Edwardsville High School graduate Dean Stuart is currently a student at University of Vermont.

The anti-police sentiments were shared on Stuart's twitter page, where he wrote, "There is no such thing as a good cop that willingly works in a system like this."

In one tweet, Stuart wrote, "Just because you’ve had a good interaction with a 'good cop' doesn’t mean they’re not the problem. It’s still f*** the police." 

The tweets were written following the death of George Floyd and during days of protest and violence, including the shooting of four police officers in St. Louis and murder of former police captain David Dorn. Dorn's murder by rioters and looters was recorded and shard on social media. 

According to FBI data, 25 law enforcement officers have been murdered in 2020 as of June 8. Of those 25 killed, four were ambushed and one was killed during an unprovoked attack. In addition to the 25 officers who were "feloniously killed," 20 officers were listed as being "accidentally killed." Those numbers do not include officers who have been injured. 

Questioned why he had such angry and sweeping opinions, and what interaction he had with police in affluent Edwardsville and Burlington, Vt. to develop them, Stuart told the Record: "If you want to understand please read 'The End of Policing' by Alex Vitale."

He added, "If you just want a comment for your little website that you’re gonna take out of context of the whole movement then no comment."

The book advocates that police be "defunded."

In one widely cited passage, Vitale writes, "The reality is that the police exist primarily as a system for managing and even producing inequality by suppressing social movements and tightly managing the behaviors of poor and nonwhite people."

Rep. Stuart had previously credited her son for convincing her to run as representative for the 112th District in 2016.

“(Dean) said that instead of sitting around the kitchen table and discussing the things I think need to be improved, I should run for office so that I can be a part of the solution,” the representative told the Tiger Times, the newspaper for the Edwardsvill High School, in 2016

In the same article Rep. Stuart, a former math teacher at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, added, "There were a variety of issues that led me to decide to run, but a big one was education." Her husband, Steve, is the principal of Lincoln Middle School in Edwardsville.

Dean Stuart, who is a data science major, wrote, "F*** the police. F*** ICE. And f*** every single racist asshat that refuses to see the oppressive nature of our 'justice” system.'"

In a series of posts on June 2, Stuart wrote, "The problem is a cop can maliciously murder someone and not get charged with first degree murder. The problem is 3 other cops can watch George Floyd suffocate and not intervene and not get charged with anything. The problem is cops killing other POC and not facing any charges or found innocent." 

The three other officers at the scene have now been charged.

"The problem is cops showing up in riot gear and beating up and tear gassing the people they’re supposed to protect. The problem is cops carrying around weapons to ‘protect.’ The problem is cops being able to panic and react while unarmed citizens are supposed to remain calm. The problem is those staying silent and not fighting oppression. The problem is the racist assholes that see these tweets and protests as nothing more than an overreaction. The problem is that this isn’t the first time this has happened. The problem is all these problems have been brought up for years and shit HASNT CHANGED. The problem is that there are people who believe change isn’t necessary because they’re not the ones being oppressed," he added.

Stuart grew up in Edwardsville, which has a white population of more than 80 percent, a median household income of $72,832, and average house prices of approximately $200,000. Out-of-state tuition fees for the University of Vermont cost $41,000 per year.

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