A group of Chicago police officers are under fire after being caught on camera lounging in the burglarized office of a U.S. congressman, amid civil unrest in the city.
The incident took place around 1:00am on June 1, during protests over the death of George Floyd, who was killed by a former Minneapolis police officer late last month. Floyd’s death sparked nationwide and international demonstrations over race relations and police brutality.
Three supervisors and 10 other officers were captured on surveillance “having a little hangout for themselves, while small businesses on the South Side were looted and burned,” said Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.
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As many as 13 Chicago police officers broke into Rep. Bobby Rush’s Chicago campaign offices to lounge on chairs, drink coffee and make popcorn while looters vandalized nearby businesses in the wake of the killing of George Floyd https://t.co/1KOXrLhHFj pic.twitter.com/ldEQrYaQiD
— POLITICO (@politico) June 12, 2020
The viral video shows the officers preparing popcorn, drinking coffee and napping on the couch inside the office of U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Illinois, according to The Washington Post.
“They even had the unmitigated gall to go and make coffee for themselves and pop popcorn, my popcorn, in my microwave, while looters were tearing apart businesses within their sight, within their reach,” Rush said. “They did not care about what was happening to business people, to this city. They didn’t care. They absolutely didn’t care.”
Rep. Bobby Rush says Chicago police broke into his campaign office to take his coffee and popcorn and relax while looters threatened the city: pic.twitter.com/UEzcYHQIEJ
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) June 11, 2020
Mayor Lightfoot slammed the bold cops over their selfish antics during a time when “their colleagues were getting bottles thrown at their heads,” she said.
“We should all be disgusted, and we should all feel hurt and betrayed, in this moment of all moments,” Lightfoot added. “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’re sworn to serve and protect.”
An investigation will be launched to determine whether the officers committed a crime, said Lightfoot.
She also noted that “not one of these officers will be allowed to hide behind the badge and act like nothing ever happened.”
Police Superintendent David Brown assured Rush that the 13 officers will be held accountable.
“If you sleep during a riot, what do you do on a regular shift?” Brown said. “What makes you comfortable enough that a supervisor won’t hold you accountable? Supervisors … need to step up or step out. I’m not playing.”
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