We Need More Support For The Gaughans

Originally, I expected that people in our town – Marengo, IL, would jump in to offer support for the Gaughan family once they saw the injustice of the situation and how much the Gaughans need their help now. Five years ago, when we first started running the Marengo Message Board http://lenasbooks.proboards28.com/index.cgi, a case had come up with a local resident, Paul Shirmer. Paul fell asleep while driving a semi truck in the state of Georgia. He crashed his truck into a UPS truck, killing both the driver and his own son. He was charged with manslaughter by the Georgia prosecutors. People in Marengo poured in with their support.
What happened with the Gaughan case? People do not want to get involved. The prosecutors in this case are local and the officials who are against the Gaughans are town officials. It doesn’t sit well with people and I have been unable to gather any sort of support for the Gaughans and their situation.
I first became involved with the Gaughans in a somewhat unusual way. The father, Brian Gaughan Sr., got in contact with us through our message board and told us a very strange story which I was reluctant to believe. He said his sons were falsely arrested by Officer Scott Crawford, who beat up his older son and put his face through a wall. That now they faced various charges against them, and that he, as a former police officer himself, could not believe what kinds of crimes are being perpetrated in Marengo. I felt bad for the person who contacted me, but did not at first believe much of what he told me. The following week I talked to a friend in town who had connections with the Police Chief and town government officials. I asked her who this person was. I only had his first name and very little other information, yet she was able to tell me who it was and to please stay far away from him, as the whole town is against him and whoever has anything to do with him will have a lot of problems of their own. In the following months, I was able to find out that many more people have been attacked by Officer Crawford and had false charges brought against them. The only difference is that not one of them fought back. They all took the easy way out and pleaded guilty to lesser charges.
Because the Gaughans chose to fight the false charges that were made against them. Because of this they have faced arrests, intimidation – look at the video on this website for instance, http://marengogazette.blogspot.com/, and false arrest for further charges that the State’s Attorney’s Office managed to dig up. We in Marengo really need your help. There is little help from people of this town, who simply deride our efforts and complain about our ongoing support of the Gaughan family. Please write to Lisa Madigan, Attorney General in Illinois to have her look into this situation:


Lisa Madigan
IL Attorney Generals Office
100 W. Randolf St
Chicago, IL 60601
312-814-3000
www.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov


July 9, 2006