Mayor Calls For Strict Enforcement of Large Gatherings. His Wife is Caught at a Party
Mayor Brant Walker(City of Alton, Illinois)
(IBEXNews) - Alton Mayor Brant Walker has issued a public apology after police caught his wife at a large party in violation of the state’s stay-at-home order, an embarrassing drama that is playing out on social media this week.
In a remarkably candid Facebook post Monday, Walker scolded the woman and said he asked authorities to show her no mercy for her “stunning lack of judgement.”
The 57-year-old mayor said he had instructed the city’s police department on Friday to “more strictly” enforce Gov. J. B. Pritzker’s executive order banning gatherings of 10 people or more because of an increase of coronavirus infections in Madison County.
Walker then got a call from the police chief around 1 a.m. Sunday telling him that cops were breaking up a prohibited party at a downtown bar and that one of the guests was the city’s own first lady, Shannon Walker.
Mayor Brant Walker With His Wife Shannon Walker
“I instructed the Police Chief to treat her as he would any citizen violating the ‘Stay At Home’ order and to ensure that she received no special treatment,” he wrote.
“My wife is an adult capable of making her own decisions, and in this instance she exhibited a stunning lack of judgement. She now faces the same consequences for her ill-advised decision as the other individuals who chose to violate the ‘Stay At Home’ order during this incident."
Police went ahead and issued citations to the woman and an unknown number of violators.
Illinois has recorded more than 12,000 coronavirus cases and at least 307 deaths, according to the state’s health department. In Madison County, at least 52 people have tested positive.
The second-term mayor, who won re-election in 2017 as Independent candidate, said he would continue to do everything in his power to enforce the state’s stay-at-home order and help slow the spread of COVID-19.
“I am embarrassed by this incident and apologize to the citizens of Alton for any embarrassment this incident may cause our City,” he wrote.
His public statement was met with mixed reactions on social media.
“Complete disrespect from your family towards every American that has lost their life. Obviously as her husband, you knew about this,” Facebook user Brennan Smith wrote on the mayor’s page.
“I have to commend any leader brave enough to take a stand and then publicly (sic) own any fallout,” said Danielle Simmons. “A lesser leader, like one’s we have in higher offices, would have created a cover-up, made excuses, or thrown out an executive pardon. Kudos to this man who would rather be publicly (sic) embarrassed than privately corrupt!”
