(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A decision by the Chicago Police Department has drawn fire from one of the most prominent civil rights organizations in the country.
The Southern Poverty Law Center has written to CPD and Mayor Lightfoot asking that the city reconsider a decision to merely suspend a police officer with ties to the Proud Boys.
The SPLC says in the letter that it believes Robert Bakker “should have been fired for his active participation in extremist activities – and then lying about it.”
It is urging the city to “adopt clear and unambiguous policies and procedures prohibiting city employees from actively associating with hate and extremist groups.”
Bakker was given a 120-day suspension.
The Chicago Police Department says it has “zero tolerance for any of its members associated with… hate groups,” and that “if any information leading to new allegations in (the Bakker) case becomes available, it will be investigated.”
Antifascist activists outed Bakker as a Proud Boys associate in May of 2020, publicly releasing private communications between him and known members of the group.
Police investigators later learned that Bakker had failed to notify the department about FBI agents coming to the Central District four months earlier and questioning him about his ties to the group.
He was initially handed a five-day suspension for failing to disclose the interview, but other allegations centering on his association with criminals and members of the Proud Boys were not sustained.
Contributing: Sun-Times Media Wire
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