Chicago, IL – On Sunday, November 10, over 100 community members packed into a People’s Town Hall on the northwest side of Chicago. Organized by the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR) and other progressive community groups, the event exposed that the racist Oath Keepers are present in the Chicago Police Department (CPD).

The People’s Town Hall demanded that Mayor Brandon Johnson fire the eight active duty CPD officers named in leaked Oath Keepers membership records. They also called to establish a civilian task force to root out white supremacist extremism from within the ranks of CPD.

CAARPR member Faayani Aboma Mijana opened the event and explained, “Progressive residents of Police Districts 14 and 17 on the northwest side, and 24 on the far north side, found that three of the officers’ names who were leaked in the Oath Keeper roster were stationed in their very districts. From this, CAARPR members and residents engaged in months of struggle that included raising the issue in their local District Councils, a grassroots level police accountability body established by the 2021 Empowering Communities for Public Safety ordinance.”

Mijana continued, “Districts 14 and 17 created enough pressure to force their Chicago Police District Commanders to field questions about the matter. The commander from 14th District bowed to pressure and pledged to raise the issue to those with hiring and firing power within CPD, but the Commander in 17th District grew antagonistic and shut down angry residents.”

Out of these localized struggles, the residents of these three districts linked their efforts and organized the town hall. They hope to unite their communities and the broader city to push their demands and win.

After Mijana’s introduction, the town hall brought on Deputy Inspector for Public Safety Tobara Richardson from the Office of Inspector General (OIG). The OIG released a report that pointed out glaring deficiencies in the CPD’s investigation into the eight officers. The OIG also proposed ways CPD’s internal investigating arm could rectify their investigation. Up to that point, CPD refused to do so. In addition to proposing rectifications, the OIG also called on the mayor to convene the task force to root out “extremism” from within CPD. The town hall united with the OIG in pushing forward this task force.

A panel of leaders followed Deputy Inspector Richardson. Chaired by Mijana, the panel included CAARPR’s Field Organizer Frank Chapman, progressive alders Carlos Ramirez-Rosa and Byron Sigcho-Lopez, progressive 14th District Councilor Ashley Vargas, and two representatives, Remel Terry and Abierre Minor, from the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability (CCPSA), the city-wide police accountability body established by the ECPS ordinance.

The panelists emphasized the importance of firing these officers and rooting out racists from within CPD. They spoke to concerns that the impending Trump presidency will embolden these racist elements to inflict terror on communities.

In addition, the panelists charted out a path forward for the struggle, telling how pro-accountability district councilors and alders will need to sign onto the demands to pressure Mayor Johnson. The organizers and residents at the People’s Town Hall will take these lessons and use them to further build pressure on the city to remove the Oath Keepers and all white supremacists from CPD, and ultimately to bring the police under the full control of the community.

#ChicagoIL #CAARPR #CCOP #CCPSA