Over the last several days, many agencies experienced protests over the incident in Minneapolis on May 25th. As usual, those agencies worked with those groups and protected their First Amendment right to protest. However, there were jurisdictions where violence and looting took place. ILEAS, in conjunction with the Illinois State Police, coordinated special response teams to assist local law enforcement. Virtually all ILEAS Mobile Field Force and Special Response Teams were engaged in operations to support requesting agencies. ILEAS and ISP have been meeting daily to plan responses and to coordinate resources to support cities and counties. A significant amount of ILEAS resources were utilized at one time.
ILEAS leadership wants to thank every member agency that responded to assist their fellow jurisdictions. We also want to thank the commanders and officers/deputies of the various teams that spent countless hours dedicated to a professional statewide response.