Crawford: Public statement regarding my residence, disinformation and personal safety

OPINION — Enough is enough. My home is not a political weapon.

I feel it is important to address the continued disinformation surrounding my residence in the Acacia district and provide the public with accurate information.

Questions about where I live first became an issue in 2022, when my political opponent falsely campaigned on the claim that I had moved into the Acacia district simply so I could run for Peoria City Council. That claim was false. I did not move to the Acacia district to run for office. I moved to the Acacia district in 2020. I did not decide to run for office until 2022.

What began as a political attack during a campaign has since evolved into something far more disturbing.

In 2023, my home became the target of an alarming incident involving a man who came to my residence disguised as a FedEx delivery driver. He arrived and videoed my home and my vehicles and proceeded to deliver a package with a bogus shipping label.

This man requested my signature and I personally signed for the package. The shipping label was created by former Peoria Mayor Cathy Carlat’s husband, Dennis Carlat. The incident was investigated by the Peoria Police Department and is documented in case report #2023-00074247.

Even after the man involved in the fraudulent delivery, who was impersonating a FedEx employee, obtained positive identification that I was at the residence, Mr. Carlat continued to perpetuate disinformation about my residence on social media using multiple fake aliases to do so.

Unfortunately, the 2023 incident was not an isolated occurrence. I have received other suspicious packages at my residence, obscene text messages, and experienced vandalism at another residence.

Most recently, I was followed after leaving City Hall following our Sept. 1, 2026 City Council meeting. That incident is currently being investigated by the Peoria Police Department.

The harassment has also extended to my family. A reporter has made attempts to contact my family by phone and subsequently showed up at one of our family residences, creating an unwelcome and distressing situation for my family. My family should not be targeted simply because I chose to serve my community.

These are not campaign talking points. These are real incidents that have affected my family and me and have forced me to take additional precautions to protect our safety. Because of the repeated incidents I have experienced, I have had to take additional measures to protect myself and my residence in the Acacia district. These steps are not political posturing. They are necessary precautions based on what has occurred.

Since 2023 I have served the people of Peoria. I understand that public officials should be held accountable. I welcome questions about my voting record, my policies, my decisions, and my performance as a councilmember. Political opponents are free to disagree with me, criticize me, and campaign against me.

But there is a line between political disagreement and personal harassment and intimidation. That line is someone's home and personal safety.

Repeatedly spreading disinformation about where a public official lives — particularly after law enforcement has investigated an incident involving that residence — is reckless and irresponsible. It creates a false narrative that can encourage people to investigate, confront, follow, and target an elected official at their residence.

Let me be clear: A political lie perpetrated by Dennis Carlat has led to people feeling justified in targeting my home, my family and my personal safety.

I should never have had to take extraordinary steps to protect my residence because of political attacks. But I have, because my safety and the safety of my family must come first.

For that reason, I will not disclose additional information about my residences, security measures, travel patterns, work locations, or daily routines. I will not allow political opponents, social media campaigns, or anyone else to use information about my residence to put me or my family at greater risk.

The residents of Peoria deserve better than political theater built on disinformation, intimidation and personal attacks. They deserve leaders who will treat one another and our community with respect — not with attempts to intimidate political opponents at their homes.

I have a right to serve in public office without having my home, family, and personal safety targeted. I am asking, plainly and unequivocally, that the harassment stop. Leave my family alone.

Stop showing up at our residences, stop attempting to obtain information about our private lives, and stop using disinformation about my residences as a pretext for targeting me and my family.

Political disagreements should be settled at the ballot box and through public debate — not by harassing someone's family and invading their privacy.