PEORIA — More than 70 people gathered around the front doors of City Hall on Tuesday evening to support Mayor Jim Ardis in the controversy over a parody Twitter account.

The rally was in response to the criticism Ardis received after he sought police action that led to the raid of a house where the parody @peoriamayor Twitter account was created. Supporters mostly held banners backing Ardis and quietly talked among themselves before the City Council meeting was slated to start.

Those at the rally included former Peoria police Chief Steve Settingsgaard, who said he was there to support Ardis, and Peoria County State’s Attorney Jerry Brady and Sheriff Mike McCoy, who said they were there to observe. Numerous other city officials and those that had done business with Ardis throughout his years in Peoria were also there.

Michael Everett, business development director for West Central Illinois Building and Construction Trade Council, said he was there to support the man he had worked with for many years. “There’s a need in this country to just pile on someone in situations like this. They don’t want to talk about the years of service and good work he’s done for the city.”

Carol Rodgers, Ardis’ childhood neighbor, said she believes a majority of Peorians still support Ardis, but the local media helped create a negative image of him.

“I just wish the media coverage weren’t so one-sided and so against Jimmy. They’ve painted such a negative picture of him,” Rodgers said. “People need to think about if it was them in his shoes, what would they have done.”

“I’m standing up for one of the good guys in the world,” Paul Hammond of Peoria said. “I think it’s unfair that Jim got labeled the bad guy in the situation while the guy who started this whole thing, the guy who created the Twitter account, became the victim.”

Also in front of City Hall was a smaller but much more vocal group of supporters for Jon Daniel, the creator of the Twitter account. The group of about a dozen people stood right next to the Ardis supporters. They said they were trying to raise awareness about what they called police brutality in Peoria by connecting the Twitter raid and the shooting death of a pit bull by a Peoria police officer on May 20. Police have said the dog was shot multiple times after lunging at the officer.

Zack Teague, one of the Daniel supporters, said both incidents show Peoria police using too much force.

“Police brutality in Peoria is a real thing, and we’re concerned citizens trying to shed light on the issue,” Teague said. “If what the Twitter profile creator did was slander, it’s supposed to result in a civil case, not a police raid.”

The rally spiked near 6 p.m., right before the City Council meeting was about to begin. Those supporting Daniel started to yell in traditional protesting fashion: “What do we want? Free speech! When do we want it? Now!”

An Ardis supporter, standing quietly among the other Ardis supporters, said, “You have it, obviously.”

Zach Berg can be reached at zberg@pjstar.com or 686-3257. Follow him on Twitter @ZacharyBerg.