Three alcohol-fueled backwoods troublemakers from rural Illinois found out the hard way that you don’t roll up on three black men quietly nightfishing and start screaming racial slurs at them. Spoiler alert: it didn’t work out well for the hicks.
It all began on the first Friday night in April at 10:45 p.m. at White Oaks Park in Paris, Illinois. Jaleel Jones, an alderman from nearby Danville, and his two friends — Tajon King and Duane Williams — were doing what they regularly do: relaxing while wetting their lines.
The tranquility went south, however, with the arrival of an old white pickup truck. Inside, prosecutors say three bad actors climbed out and surrounded the fishermen. The team of brain surgeons unleashed a stream of racist insults like it was their only God-given talent (it probably was). Apparently seeing black folks peacefully fishing proved too much for their fragile sensibilities.
When the fishermen tried to de-escalate and leave, things got worse. Jordan Kollman, 29, grabbed a 12-gauge shotgun from the back of his truck. Where did a felon like Kollman buy a shotgun? He’s skipped the waiting period, paperwork, FOID laws and all the rest of Illinois’ onerous gun control regimen and traded a craptastic Playstation 5 for a craptastic smoothbore. He also managed to buy or steal some shotgun shells from a local store.
Like a tough guy, he fired a shot into the air like he was in some ultra-low-budget Alec Baldwin flick. He then racked the shotgun, pointed it at one of the victims and threatened to “blow his head off.” Not getting the reaction he’d hoped for, Jordan reportedly fired off more rounds into the air over the heads of the fishermen. His fellow rocket surgeon brother, Jesse Kollman, 25, egged him on, cheering the pathetic display like he was a predatory redneck from Deliverance.
But the would-be predators picked the wrong targets and no one was gonna squeal like a pig. One of the fishermen, legally carrying his own handgun, fired back in self-defense and hit Jordan with three shots — two to the abdomen and one to the hip. Cue the sad trombone.
The self-appointed park enforcer went down hard. EMS treated him at the scene before he was life-flighted to the hospital. He survived, but it will be a long recovery. Now the whole motley crew is facing serious charges.
Jordan Kollman is charged with attempted first-degree murder, aggravated discharge of a firearm, unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon, and a hate crime. He’s being held without bond and while nursing his wounds. Jesse Kollman faces attempted murder and hate crime charges for his role in the mob action. Jayden Reynolds picked up a mob action charge.
The three mouth-breahters thought they could terrorize innocent men over nothing more than the color of their skin and a peaceful night of fishing. Instead, one of them took some lead to the body and all three are now staring at heavy felony time while the fishermen they targeted walk away unharmed — and legally vindicated.
Play stupid racist games, win stupid racist prizes.
The catfish are probably still laughing.
Two people that were arrested following a “disturbance involving a firearm,” in Paris earlier this month are now being charged with attempted first-degree murder and committing a hate crime.
29-year-old Jordan J. Kollman and 25-year-old Jesse L. Kollman appeared in court for a hearing on Tuesday. Court records show that Jordan is charged with the following felonies:
Attempted first degree murder Class X Felony
Aggravated discharge of a firearm Class 1 Felony
Unlawful possession of weapons by felon, 2nd+Class 2 Felony
Hate crime Class 3 Felony
Jesse is charged with attempted first-degree murder and committing a hate crime, which are a Class X felony and Class 3 felony, respectively. The third man arrested following the incident earlier this month — Jayden A. Reynolds — has not yet been charged as of Tuesday afternoon. Police said he was arrested for mob action. Reynolds is scheduled to appear in court on April 20.
The charges stem from a shooting that happened in the evening hours of Friday, April 3. WCIA previously reported that officers with the Paris Police Department responded to White Oaks Park after receiving several 911 calls about a “disturbance involving a firearm.” When they arrived on the scene, police found an injured male subject.
Happy ending for the defender and his fishing buddies.