ALTON - Sara McGibany, the long-time executive director of Alton Main Street, made a statement in a Facebook post on Monday about her guilty plea to a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct. McGibany entered the guilty plea, which occurred when she placed a note on Alton’s Ketchum’s Corner Kream ice cream building at 33 Elm Street in Alton in June. She added a small note on the "Sorry We Are Closed" sign “For being bigots.”
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“I thought I’d clear the air since there’s some misinformation going around,” McGibany said on her Facebook page after her guilty plea to the misdemeanor charge.
She said she was charged with disorderly conduct after her action after a June 2, 2020, demonstration in front of Ketchum’s Corner Kream ice cream building. She explained that the racial justice protest demonstration occurred after the George Floyd death at the hands of a police officer in Minneapolis.
McGibany added she was charged for writing on a piece of paper that was taped to the ice cream shop which closed after facing backlash from what she described as a: ”variety of bigoted Facebook posts by the owner."
“I received the notice to appear in court by mail and was not arrested, and I actually told the police that I did this before the report was even filed. My sentence is 35 hours of community service, which I will happily serve with a social justice non-profit.”
“My actions are sure to cause some people to support me less and others to support me more, and I accept any consequences 100 percent. Everyone is at a different place with what actions they feel are appropriate and at this point in my life I am willing to take some risks to enact change and send the message that bigotry won’t be tolerated in our community.”
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