CHAMPAIGN – Champaign City Councilman Davion Williams says he wants the community to come together and be unified.
Williams represents District 1 and spoke Thursday night at Sheriff Temple AOH Church of God, which is located in the district. About 30 people attended the event including local pastors, Police Chief Timothy Tyler, Champaign County State’s Attorney Julia Reitz and Champaign Deputy Mayor Will Kyles.
The councilman is under fire after changing his Facebook profile picture on Jan. 31 to an image of a swastika with a caption that said it’s an ancient symbol that’s been used for thousands of years across multiple cultures to denote good fortune, well-being and spirituality.
Not long after that post went up, Mayor Deb Feinen quickly denounced Williams’ actions on her own Facebook page. Later that day, she and the rest of the city council issued a statement. “This blatant display and disregard for the values we uphold as a City is unacceptable,” the statement read. “His posts and comments were reckless and we strongly condemn them. We refuse to allow his statements to reflect our City organization or our community.”
Williams’ remarks last night followed several earlier attempts to explain his actions. On the same day he made the post, he told the News-Gazette saying he was trying to be “thought-provoking” and get his followers to think critically about the swastika’s past use.
“I didn’t do nothing wrong,” he said. “I mean, I understand people’s sentiments as related with that symbol, but we have got to take away the power of hatred from the symbol.”
A few days later, on Feb 4, he released a statement through the City of Champaign in which he apologized and said he took full responsibility for his words. That evening, he apologized again at a city council meeting after other council members and Jewish residents, including Reitz, publicly denounced his actions.
Reitz attended last night’s meeting, one of several that Williams pledged to hold in the statement the city released on his behalf. During the meeting, no one brought up the swastika incident. Instead Williams and other city leaders shared information on city resources, from how to register a complaint about a pothole in city streets to reporting crimes and working with neighborhood youth.
After the meeting, Reitz said she was confrontational with Williams at the Feb. 4 council meeting but also told him that night that she wanted to move forward.
“I called councilmember Williams out (at the Feb 4 council meeting) for not being as involved as I thought he should be in his own community,” she said. “I was there, like I said, with two hats on. As a member of the Jewish community we were very upset with the things that he had said and wanted that to be addressed.”
Reitz also said she came to Thursday night’s meeting to make good on her desire to support him moving forward. “This was a great meeting,” she said. “So much great information got shared with the community. I think it was a great first step and I appreciate it.”
Williams, in turn, said he appreciated the “grace” that Reitz showed him by coming.
“The message I hope that came through tonight,” he said, “is for us to come together and to unify ourselves and to work collectively so that we can make this district and ultimately the city a better place.” He said he planned to have more community meetings, perhaps as often as once a month.
James Wright, pastor of Sheriff Temple AOH Church of God, along with Terrance Thomas, pastor of Bethel AME church, said they approached Williams about having his community meetings in their houses of worship.
“So he’s a young man new to the council seat and new to how to carry himself in terms of a government official or just in any level of leadership, right?” said Wright. “Me, being a pastor, I understand what it’s like to, what it’s like to fall… or do something that may have offended someone.
“We thought this would be a good opportunity to help him rather than kick him when he’s down, right?” Wright added. “Help him to understand where he is and the climate that it is now and some of the words that hurt others and how we can lift him up in this moment and help him refocus on the district.”