Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – “On Wednesday. my daughter killed herself,” Jon Hughes told aldermen Tuesday. “You guys want to talk about s*** from 1908. This is 2025.

“We got a genocide of children going on.”

Hughes, backed by supporters (pictured), told the city council the priorities are all wrong and accused Mayor Misty Buscher and aldermen of doing next to nothing about it.

The comments capped a tense, 2 1/2-hour council meeting at which income inequality, race relations, and the phrase “skin in the game” dominated. The council eventually approved neighborhood grant programs for underprivileged areas of the city, as well as support for tourism efforts at commemorating Black history sites.