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Family of Madeline Miller ‘devastated’ by her death in police shooting

A group of protesters filled the sidewalk outside Flossmoor Village Hall for a second time before the board meeting Monday, Aug. 1, calling for police accountability in the shooting death of Madeline Miller.

Some of Miller’s 10 siblings also attended the protest that later continued into the Flossmoor Board of Trustees meeting. They were visibly emotional as they gathered to represent their family and speak to the group of supporters and media gathered outside.

Miller’s brother Lewis Spells said Flossmoor police officers treated his sister “like a dog, an animal” when they shot and killed her during a domestic incident on July 10.

He thanked everyone for attending the protest and said Miller’s family is sad about her death. They disagree with the way she is being portrayed in narratives about what happened that day.

“The media try to (portray) her as some type of animal, or person with a bad attitude, but she wasn’t,” he said. “She was a nice, gentle woman. Everybody has problems sometimes.

“They pretty much executed her … They saw her color, and automatically treated her as an animal … We just want justice for Madeline and for our family. I’m trying to figure out – who’s the animal? Is it them? I think it’s more them.”

Miller’s sister Iletha Spells Hudson said their family is devastated over the circumstances of her sister’s death. The officers who shot her could have instead used pepper spray or a Taser, or even run away. 

“They had no compassion for my sister. It seems as though Black men, and now Black women, are only getting shot by police – there are no ways to deescalate when it comes to people of color,” Hudson said. 

Several protesters held signs that read No Racist Police, Black Lives Matter, and The People Demand Jail Killer Cops: Nothing Less. One large banner read Stop the War on Black America. 

That banner and some of the signs belonged to members of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, who made up a portion of the crowd. Others were residents of Homewood, Flossmoor, and surrounding communities.

The protest was organized in part by community activists Camiella Williams of Good Kids Mad City, and La’Shawn Littrice of Make Noize for Change.

Littrice, who is a community psychologist and longtime Flossmoor resident, said the police officers who shot Miller need to be held accountable. They have not yet been identified.

“We know that Flossmoor is known as ‘a gem,’ but it’s not a gem. We have the same problems that exist across the country in terms of the culture of the police department,” Littrice said. 

“We have to call it what it is. It’s an execution murder. … And it could have been avoided if there were deescalation tactics implemented.”

The protest group has some collective demands, according to Williams. First, they want Flossmoor Mayor Michelle Nelson to launch an administrative investigation into whether the police department exhibits a pattern of use of force, deadly use of force, and biased ticketing.

The group also wants the Flossmoor Police Department to implement state programs that would allow officers to offer support or alternative intervention to people experiencing a mental crisis.

Williams said the group also wants investigations of police shootings to be conducted by an independent Cook County review board instead of the Illinois State Police, which currently has that task. 

This demand is part of the group’s ongoing work, and isn’t something Flossmoor authorities have the power to change. 

However, Williams said it’s a critical change to create a system that can work more quickly. The extensive timeline of ISP investigations means officers sometime return to work from administrative leave before the case review of their civilian shooting is complete.

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