The System Speaks For Itself
Yunek Moore, the Peoria Police Department and the US District Court of IL
In early June of 2013, teenagers in Peoria, Illinois got together for a party at a friend’s home. The backyard get-together attracted several dozen people; all gathering to celebrate the induction of two of their fellow students into the Illinois National Guard. While no drugs or alcohol were present at the scene, a neighbor called the Peoria Police Department to file a noise complaint and voice concerns about possible underage drinking. One attendee, Yunek Moore was met with much worse than a breathalyzer or underage drinking ticket. Close to 10:30 pm, Peoria Police Department officers Amy Dotson, Craig Williams and Thomas Bond arrived at the scene. Soon after entering the backyard Officer Dotson began requesting identification from party goers, stopping when she came to Moore. Moore described what followed in her interaction with Officer Dotson in a recent posting for the ACLU:
“I thought someone at the party was using their phone’s flashlight or had turned on the backyard light, so I put my hand up to shield my eyes and politely asked them to stop pointing it at me. The person ignored my request and asked for my ID. Confused and still unable to see anything, I asked the person why she wanted to see my ID card. She never answered or stated who she was.”
Frustrated with Moore’s questions, Dotson gripped Moore’s wrist and forcefully pulled her from her seat towards the police cruisers parked in the front of the house. On the way, Moore claims that the officers bashed her “up against the brick house. I thought they were going to break my arm and I told them they were hurting me. The male officer responded, “Shut the hell up.” After this altercation, Moore was handcuffed and booked on charges of resisting arrest. While released relatively quickly to her mother, Moore has faced serious medical issues and has now undergone several surgeries in an attempt to repair the damage caused by the assault.
In an attempt to recuperate from the massive medical bills Moore still faces, she attempted to sue the city of Peroria in 2016 on claims of excessive force by the PPD officers. Her entire case and plea for a summary judgement was ultimately denied by the US district court in Illinois. Throughout the trial the officers involved denied all allegations, at one point claiming that they had simply followed “standard handshake control involving pain compliance” procedures, admitting that they purposefully hurt Moore in order to attain her compliance (US District Court). As of yet, the case seems closed from the Peroia’s standpoint: the city claims that Moore’s injuries were pre-existing and unrelated to the June incident, the police officers were not found to be in any violation of the law or their code of ethics, and the charges against Moore for resisting arrest still stand.
