CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Mayor Lori Lightfoot joined the Chicago Police Department and U.S. Rep. Bobby L. Rush on Thursday to announce a looting incident that occurred at Rush's campaign offices.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot said on Wednesday Rep. Bobby Rush told her something that "shocked me, shocked my team and that, frankly, enraged us."
"Congressman, I want to thank you. And I commit to being your partner and use this moment as an opportunity to speak hard truths, to heal what is broken in our city, and that we join you on your lifelong fight for justice, and particularly for black and brown people in our city," Lightfoot said. "We have a moment to make a huge difference, and we are going to seize this moment aggressively, and move forward in partnership with you and the thousands of others across this city who are demanding justice and are seeing this moment as an opportunity to write the wrongs of the past."
Rep. Bobby Rush said some two years ago, "I did not give this mayor the benefit of the doubt. Today, I stand here without any doubt, any doubt, any doubt in my heart, in my mind and in my spirit that she is absolutely committed to the well-being of all Chicagoans, bar none. I have watched her on local news...I have watched her on national news...This mayor gets it. She speaks and provides a voice to all those who don't have a voice...
"I am so amazed, so thankful, that [within 4 hours], the Mayor was on the phone, calling me, asking me could I come down to City Hall. I told her that I had some obligation at my church," Rush said.
On Wednesday night, Rep. Rush went to City Hall. The Mayor and Supt. Brown were waiting for him.
"She wanted to view this videotape. I was absolutely — I am absolutely amazed at her response, how she takes it personally," Rush said. "That these police officers while on duty, in uniform...how they took such a lackadaisical attitude, a non-caring attitude, violating my personal space while looting was occurring all around them. They didn't care...
"Our mayor cared. She did care. And I'm so glad to be here this afternoon, standing with a mayor who cares," Rush said.
The Mayor wiping away tears said, "let me lead by apologizing to you again, on behalf of our city, that you and your office were treated with such profound disrespect. That's a personal embarrassment to me. And I'm sorry that you and your staff even had to deal with this incredible indignity...
"Of course, when a black man dies in the street with a white police officer's knee on his neck, it is murder. But it's also profoundly unjust. And we can have no tolerance for that ever, and people are rightly outraged. But equally unacceptable is when there is looting and brazen criminal conduct, also unjust. And it really is the height of injustice when police are deployed, given a mission and they fail to act. That, too, is injustice. Public safety cannot be a commodity that is only available to the wealthy and connected. Public safety must be a reality everywhere, everywhere, in every neighborhood of our city, period. When you swear an oath to serve and protect, you are a Chicago Police officer, not a police officer for only certain neighborhoods and only at certain times. That is not how it is or will ever be in our city," Lightfoot said.
"Now you have all seen me angry, unfortunately a lot lately. I was and still am angry at the murder of George Floyd, of Breonna Taylor, of Ahmaud Arbery, and way too many others. And I was anger when looters hijacked righteous protestors and targeted black communities...And I am angry today. As a black woman, we are often told, 'Don't show your rage. Don't let them paint you as another angry black woman. Don't scold. Don't curse. Keep it together. Be respectable and presentable.' Now, my life in this country has forced me to be angry and determined to be a fighter. All my life, I have fought with every fiber of my being to survive in a world that was built to throw flaming roadblocks in our way as black people," Lightfoot said holding back tears. "I am working every day to instill that fight and that determination in my black daughter and show her that even, yes, we have a responsibility to live our full and authentic lives even in the face of these deeply engrained and innately violent systems of racism. And if we're angry, let's not shrink from that. Let's use our anger to get results. And what I'm also feeling in this moment is incredible resolve. I do have a range of emotions as I stand here; but, mostly, I'm done.
"We cannot go on like this anymore. We don't paint all police officers with a broad brush; that would be wrong. And I spent a lot of time and a lot of time being criticized for it for praising their officers for their hard work, for their restraint, for the de-escalation in the vast majority of cases in the last weeks of unrest and protests. Those men and women are the heroes and they have served the city honorably and they represent the badge proudly. But the officers in this incident and others we've seen in the past weeks have demonstrated a total disregard for their colleagues, for the badge and for those they were sworn to serve and protect. And these officers will be held accountable. This will be investigated thoroughly...These officers and the supervisors will be identified and they will be held to account...Not one of these officers will be allowed to hide behind the badge and go on and act like nothing ever happened. Not anymore. Not in my city, not in your city."
Lightfoot showed screenshots from the video.
"What they show, regrettably, is that these individuals were lounging in a congressman's office, having a little hangout for themselves, while small businesses on the South Side were looted and burned. While their colleagues were getting bottles thrown at their heads and doing everything they could to protect these communities. And perhaps what is most harmful about this is that for so many people on the South and the West side, the actions of these officers, the deplorable lack of responsibility to do their job at a time when the city and their fellow officers needed them most, their conduct will confirm the perception that too many people on the South and the West side were left to fend for themselves, that police don't care if black and brown communities were looted and burned...
"These individuals did, indeed, abandon their responsibilities and their obligation and their oath to serve and protect. We should all be disgusted, and we should all feel hurt and betrayed in this moment of all moments."
Lightfoot said this moment presents the opportunity to "be bold."
"Now is the time to act on licensing for police officers once and for all. I'm here to tell you today that I have directed my legal team to do the research and to draft the legislation. I am ready, I am ready, to work with the governor and our great partners in Springfield to forge a change in state law to require licensing and certification in police officers...It time. Really it's way past time in this state..."
Lightfoot said her and Supt. Brown are together.
"You're not serving or protecting anybody when you're shouting a derogatory slur...You're not serving or protecting when you pull people out of their cars by their hair and you beat the daylight out of them on the street. You're no serving or protecting when you make movie popcorn and put up your feet and lounge while your fellow officers are down the street, getting the hell beaten out of them...Today, yes, we are angry, but we're also resolved. and we are committed. And we may not be perfect in all of our efforts from this moment forward. But we're seizing on this moment to finally make the changes that many thought were too politically sensitive or infeasible or too big or too bold. The time for excuses is over. Our people are impatient, and rightfully so."
Supt. Brown said the behavior reflects leadership.
"It's a hard truth to take when you're a leader, that you're responsible for the behavior of others. And we had an exchange about consequences for this type of behavior that we've seen not just what happened at the congressman's office, but the other behavior: officer giving the finger, homophobic slurs, excessive force. That behavior reflects our leadership. Officers asleep during a riot with supervisors in tow reflects our leadership. A few commanders I had to cut off, because they began talking about us being too harsh and when they said 'us,' I said, 'You mean me being too harsh by relieving officers of their police powers?' My rebuttal was, 'It's time for you to stop talking.'
"The integrity of the Chicago Police Department is far more important than any individual officer's friendship with you or family relationship with you. Our integrity to the residents of Chicago is our No. 1, 2 and 3 priority. That we are in a seminal moment, that we have to reveal our leadership. If that means strict discipline, that's what it means. We are determined," Supt. Brown said.
Brown said to officers "move or get out of the way, but we are going to uphold the nobility of this profession....We will be accountable to the Chicagoans that deserve a department they can be proud of. That this conduct is not representative; but if it's not, let's do something about it. Let's now be the good cops that hold the bad cops accountable by rooting them out of this profession. Period. No question mark. No gray area...Need to step up or step out. I'm not playing."
