Sen. Terri Bryant (R-Murphysboro) issue a statement in support of police after convicted cop killers granted parole. | Stock Photo
Sen. Terri Bryant (R-Murphysboro) issue a statement in support of police after convicted cop killers granted parole. | Stock Photo
Sen. Terri Bryant (R-Murphysboro) publicly supported police officers after all but four Illinois Prisoner Review Board members recently voted to grant parole to two convicted murderers who killed Chicago Police officers Herman Stallworth, James Severin and Tony Rizzato.
"I did contact a representative of the Parole Board to thank the members who voted no," Bryant wrote in a post on her Facebook page.
Stallworth's killer, Joseph Hurst, had been denied parole more than 30 times before the hearing. Hurst, now 77, was a 24-year-old former Iowa State University basketball star at the shooting in 1967. Hurst shot Stallworth in the chest during a traffic stop where he and officer Eugen Ervin, Stallworth's partner, had pulled over a vehicle for speeding. Ervin was "catastrophically injured" by a bullet that went through the windshield but was still able to radio for help. Ervin survived. Hurst was originally sentenced to death following his murder conviction, but later his sentence was modified to 100 to 300 years.
Johnny Veal was one of two people convicted in the 1970 shooting deaths of Severin and Rizzato. The officers were patrolling community housing when the suspects started shooting from an apartment window. An investigation into the shooting revealed the crime was to "seal a pact between two rival gangs."
The Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) Chicago Lodge No. 7, the union that represents Chicago Police, believes the vote to grant parole to both convicted killers shows most of the Prisoner Review Board, whose members are appointed by the governor, doesn't believe Blue lives matter. FOP representatives had made the trip to Springfield for the hearing to show the board they opposed the release of these prisoners.
"This further highlights the importance of voting and hold these politicians accountable for their callous indifference to law enforcement and our fallen brothers and sisters," the FOP wrote in a post on their Facebook page. "Members of this board need to be replaced not only to make sure cop killers stay in prison but other violent felons as long as possible."
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