A social media firestorm alleging harassment of a black man by Oak Park police has been swirling since just after Christmas, attracting the attention of thousands of people both in Oak Park and outside its borders.
Oak Park resident Winifred Haun, who lives in the 200 block of South East Avenue, wrote on her publicly available Facebook page on Dec. 28, that Oak Park police “overreacted” and “falsely accused” her friend and occasional maintenance man, Tim McNeal, of stealing a package from a porch in the 300 block of South Elmwood Avenue on Dec. 24.
As of Tuesday, Jan. 5, Haun’s post, which includes a photo of three of some seven police officers who responded to the call, had gained nearly 18,000 likes, more than 9,000 shares and nearly 350 comments concerning the incident.
McNeal had arrived at her home around 1 p.m., Haun said, in search of maintenance work – raking leaves and shoveling snow – that she and other neighbors have hired him to perform over the last few years.
Shortly thereafter, several police officers appeared and began questioning, and in some instances accusing, McNeal of taking the package. McNeal was detained by police for about an hour outside Haun’s home.
In a recording released exclusively to Wednesday Journal, at least one officer tells McNeal, “We know you took it.”
Haun said in the Facebook post that she believes “if white-Oak-Park-housewife-me hadn’t been sitting there the whole time videotaping, the cops would have taken Tim into the police station. For. no. reason.”
It was later learned that the package was not stolen but had been opened and rifled through. McNeal was ultimately released by police and not charged with a crime.
She said that while clearly not as extreme as the police abuse cases that have made national headlines in Chicago, Missouri and elsewhere, the incident is part of a larger problem of police harassment of black men and women. Haun completed the post with the popular hashtag #BlackLivesMatter.
Haun said in an interview that she collected video recordings of the incident with her smart phone, because she believes the “ferocity” of the police response “was completely inappropriate.”
She has yet to file a formal complaint with the Oak Park Police Department.
Deputy Police Chief Frank Limon said in a telephone interview that the police department is conducting an investigation into the allegations, but added that officers had reasonable suspicion to investigate because a resident gave a description of the thief that matched McNeal.
“We don’t stop [suspects] based on race; we stop them on reasonable suspicion or probable cause,” Limon said.
He encouraged Haun to file an official complaint with the police, but said police are investigating the allegations either way.
Limon stopped short of saying whether it is standard police protocol for officers to aggressively accuse a suspect of committing a crime without hard evidence. He noted that 18 packages have been reported stolen from the porches of Oak Park homes since Nov. 1.
Meanwhile, the debate on Facebook between supporters and detractors has continued.
While the comments have largely supported Haun, several, many of whom purport to be relatives of the officers in Haun’s photo, have accused the suburban housewife of lying and exaggerating the story.
They have called on her to publicly post the video footage she took of the incident. Haun tells Wednesday Journal she is not posting the video, because she is concerned about possible backlash against McNeal.
CONTACT: tim@oakpark.com
