Forest Park cops uses say attorney as "Joey The Clown" Lombardo

Forest Park Review (Josh Adams) reports federally indicted Forest Park Police Sergeant Mike Murphy will be using an attorney famous for defending Joseph "Joey The Clown" Lombardo at the Family Secrets trial.

I'm outraged Murphy is on paid leave while being prosecuted. The Forest Park PD placed Sgt. Dan Harder on unpaid leave for a series of frivolous charges (the chief claimed Harder lied in a private phone conversation, Harder used the f-word and Harder took three Fridays as sick days in a relatively short period of time).

Cops know lots of attorneys or have access to lots of attorneys through their network of contacts. Doesn't it make Forest Park and Forest Park's political leadership (Mayor Anthony Calderone and Village Administrator Mike Sturino) look mobbed-up that Murphy connected with a high-powered mob attorney?

How many Assistant State's Attorneys has Murphy worked with in his career that are now doing private criminal defense work? A dozen? More? Why wouldn't Murphy use one of these defense attorneys?

It seems possible to me that some powerful people want to keep Murphy from being squeezed by the feds. Again, it kinda makes Forest Park look mobbed-up, especially since the leadership is paying Murphy to stay at home and do nothing keep his mouth shut.

FP cop indicted for brutality against homeless Black man

The U.S. Attorney Northern Illinois District has indicted Forest Park Police Sgt. Mike Murphy for misconduct in beating a Black homeless man, Sidney Hooks. See Forest Park Review (Josh Adams):

According to Hooks' civil complaint filed in February 2004, Murphy arrived at the tail end of a police response in which two officers were attempting to determine whether Hooks was panhandling. The two other officers responding to the call were satisfied that an arrest was not necessary and explained as much to Murphy, the suit contends.

After walking approximately half a block from the scene, Hooks was allegedly apprehended by Murphy, who was exiting his squad car with pepper spray in-hand. Hooks was allegedly sprayed in the face and then struck repeatedly with a baton, resulting in a broken wrist. After being kicked and handcuffed, Hooks was transported to the police station where Murphy "dragged Mr. Hooks approximately 20 feet," according to the suit.

Murphy acted like a criminal. What did Forest Park Police Chief Jim Ryan do? What did State's Attorney Dick Devine do?

BTW, at least one supporter of Mayor Anthony Calderone is characterizing the prosecution as a castration. See Forest Park Forums. From the perspective of this Calderone supporter, I guess it's removing the intrinsic masculinity of "White" cops to hold them accountable for using pepper spray and a police baton against a Black man.