Last week, after prosecutors announced a RICO case against alleged members of two Springfield gangs tied to six homicides, Springfield activist Reggie Guyton told the Illinois Times he was “saddened” that families were being broken apart “not even just through death, but in punishment.”
State’s Attorney John Milhiser charged 23 alleged members of SQAD (“Shoot Quick Avoid Death”) and Boss Playas with Illinois racketeering conspiracy covering August 2024 through September 2026.
Prosecutors say the two crews used murder to raise their names and protect their turf.
On Sept. 29, 2024, Telley Palmer, 29, of Columbus, Ohio, was found in the 400 block of South Illinois Street with about a dozen gunshot wounds after a bar fight involving rival gang members. Detectives recovered roughly 35 casings from at least three guns. He died at the hospital.
On Jan. 4, 2025, Lajarvious Smith, 31, a Springfield barber, was driving a Dodge Charger on East Carpenter Street when a sedan poured more than 50 rounds into the car. Smith was shot 16 times and died at St. John’s Hospital. Authorities say he was mistaken for a rival.
On Oct. 9, 2025, gunmen hit a house in the 3000 block of Hoover Avenue. Cash Russell, 9 years old, a Graham Elementary fourth-grader, was killed along with Mhynesha Day, 22, and Devione Brady, 21. All three died of gunshot wounds. The sheriff called it a targeted attack. Prosecutors say it was a home-invasion murder over an earlier drug burglary.
On Jan. 8, 2026, Barrion Sanders, 20, SQAD-affiliated, was shot multiple times in a vehicle on East Edwards Street and died at the hospital. Prosecutors say it was payback after Sanders beat up a rival at a prompt-care clinic six days earlier.
Two days after that, four gang members in a stolen Honda with stolen plates, dressed in black and masks, rolled around town with fully automatic weapons looking for more rivals. That produced an officer-involved shooting and more arrests.
Reggie Guyton represents the stretch of Sangamon County where the Hoover Avenue massacre including the murder of 9-year-old Cash Russel happened. Guyton told the Illinois Times he was “both relieved that there is justice happening, but I’m also saddened because there’s just so many young people that are caught up in situations and they don’t realize how out of control it is.”
On Facebook, Guyton also shared Polo Hamm’s post treating the defendants like a missed cohort of tradesmen — they played sports so they were “teachable,” and workforce training would have saved them. The men tied to a 9-year-old’s dead body, in Guyton’s opinion, needed a résumé class.
Why was Guyton unable to stop at, “I’m relieved that there is justice happening.” That sentence is available to any adult. He refused to let it stand alone.
Guyton felt it necessary to attach sadness for the people who, according to the indictment, spent two years turning Springfield into a shooting gallery.
Prison is an injury to the families of the alleged gang members. The dead fourth-grader became a lecture about how punishment feels for criminals and their families. An elected official who represents the block where Cash Russel was murdered looked at “Shoot Quick Avoid Death” and “Boss Playas” and felt heartache for the alleged gang members.
Juxtapose Guyton’s sentiment for the arrested alleged gang members with his sentiment toward white people. A month earlier, Guyton shared a Facebook post “because mood” and declared that “Whiteness/White centered social standards have worked to invalidate nearly every experience of Blackness or Queerdom if it isn’t beneficial to Whiteness.”
When it comes to “whiteness”, Guyton is “Just. Plain. Tired.” When it comes to arrest of alleged murderous gang members, Guyton is “sad”.
That is the racial hierarchy promoted by Guyton and other woke activists. “Whiteness” itself is a social toxin engraved into every American room. Meanwhile, alleged members of gangs named Shoot Quick Avoid Death and Boss Playas — men prosecutors say turned a house on Hoover into a triple homicide over stolen drugs — are “young people caught up in situations.”
Springfield activist Ken Pacha ran a similar play with extra footnotes. After the indictments he asked whether the city could now stop pulling black drivers over at a “5 to 1 ratio,” spend less on Flock and ShotSpotter, and pour money into “community programs.” The arrests “serve to make headlines but do nothing to change the outcomes that lead to these headlines.”
9-year-old Cash Russell’s name did not appear in Pacha’s rant. Fifty rounds into an innocent barber’s car did not appear in Pacha’s rant. According to Pacha, The City of Springfield and the Springfield Police Department are the problem – not the 23 alleged murderous gang members.
Once “whiteness” is original sin and disparate outcomes prove intentional neglect, the black man with the switch-equipped Glock is merely a byproduct of “white supremacy” and the dead 9-year-old is an unfortunate data point.
Cash Russell will not clock in at $100k clean. Telley Palmer will not reflect on Guyton’s mood. The people prosecutors say allegedly ran a two-year murder enterprise now face a statute written for exactly this.
Ordinary people are allowed to be glad they are in custody. Guyton is allowed to be tired of white people and sad for the alleged gang members. He has now told the Sangamon County which group actually has his sympathy. Believe him.