CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — A Chicago alderman wants to make it easier for the city to remove the giant letters spelling out former-President Donald Trump's name from Trump Tower, if he or his businesses are convicted of illegal activity.
An ordinance that would allow such an action already exists and could take effect if Trump is convicted of treason, sedition or subversive actions.
Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36th) said Trump's suggestion that the Constitution could be set aside to overturn his loss in the 2020 election wasn't enough to invoke the ordinance.
Villegas said that's why his office is working with the city's legal department to craft a new ordinance to ban any person or company convicted of any illegal activity from getting permits to put signs or lettering on buildings they control.
“To have someone who is trying to overthrow the government by saying the Constitution doesn’t matter and be reinstated — this is definitely a slap in the face,” Villegas said. “That’s why I’m up for this fight, so that we can rid ourselves of this stain on this beautiful skyline that we have.”
The alderman said the ordinance needs to be crafted carefully.
“What we don’t want to do is put the City in a position where it’s being sued and costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars in a lawsuit, and then ultimately, if they’re successful in defending it, puts us in a bad position,” he said. “My team and City lawyers are trying to find ways that they feel confident would put us in a position to win any type of lawsuit.”
Villegas says such an ordinance might have allowed the city to force the removal of the giant letters from Trump Tower, after two companies in the Trump Organization were convicted this week of tax fraud and other crimes in New York.
Related
Related
Listen to WBBM Newsradio now on Audacy!