Politics
Vote Set on Push to Rid CPD of Officers With Ties to Extremist Groups
(Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)
A key City Council panel is set to vote on a measure to rid the Chicago Police Department of officers with ties to hate groups and far-right extremist organizations, records show.
The proposal, authored by Ald. Matt Martin (47th Ward), would give the Civilian Office of Police Accountability the authority to probe officers accused of “actively participating” in extremist and anti-government groups like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers.
The City Council’s Workforce Development Committee is set to consider the proposal at its meeting set for 10:30 a.m. Monday. A final vote could come as soon as April 15.
“If you’re part of a violent hate group, you shouldn’t be empowered to enforce Chicago’s laws,” Martin said, adding that the proposal has been in development for more than a year and went through 17 different versions in consultation with a variety of city agencies and departments.
Before President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025, the FBI labeled the Proud Boys as an antisemitic white supremacy organization and considered the Oath Keepers a “large but loosely organized collection of individuals, some who are associated with militias” who have vowed to “not obey unconstitutional (and thus illegal) and immoral orders.”
Members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol insurrection. Leaders of both groups were convicted of seditious conspiracy before being pardoned by Trump.
The measure specifically prohibits members of the Chicago Police Department from participating in groups that advocate the overthrow of any level of U.S. government by violence.
The measure defines active participation in an extremist organization as paying dues, attending meetings, recruiting others or posting and sharing content online that promotes extremist activities.
The proposal also prohibits officers from engaging in the “planning, execution, or other material support of hate crimes and hate incidents.”
Officers would also be prohibited from “knowingly displaying paraphernalia, words, or symbols in support of extremist activities,” according to the proposal.
Martin said Chicago must act to fill the vacuum left by Trump, who pardoned more than 1,500 people who were convicted of attacking the Capitol as part of an effort to overturn the 2020 election.
The City Council should act to protect vulnerable Chicagoans, including members of the city’s Jewish and LGBTQ communities who have been targeted by the groups, Martin said.
“Chicago must step up,” Martin said.
The City Council voted 44-3 in April 2025 to ban those who took part in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol from working in city jobs. Martin championed that effort as well.
Engaging in extremist activities would “constitute a breach of the public trust” and be “conduct unbecoming of a member of the Police Department,” according to the proposal.
Martin said the measure was narrowly crafted and sets a “high bar” for proof that a CPD officer engaged in extremist activities in an attempt to protect their First Amendment rights — and withstand a legal challenge.
Nearly two and a half years ago, Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling publicly promised the City Council he would rid CPD of any officers with ties to extremist organizations.
“It serves the Chicago Police Department in no way, in no way good, to have members amongst our department who are members of hate groups,” Snelling said in October 2023. “And we will not tolerate it.”
In October 2022, police brass rejected a recommendation from Inspector General Deborah Witzburg to terminate an officer who lied about his ties to the far-right Proud Boys extremist group. Instead, that officer served a 120-day suspension.
In January 2022, police brass rejected a recommendation from Witzburg to terminate an officer who admitted belonging to the Oath Keepers.
After Snelling’s public vow, CPD’s Bureau of Internal Affairs reopened a probe into eight Chicago police officers who appeared on a leaked Oath Keepers membership list.
That investigation found no evidence they “actively participated” in the extremist group, according to an investigatory report released by CPD.
However, investigators did not interview anyone other than the eight officers accused of belonging to the Oath Keepers, according to the 30-page report released in May 2024.
Witzburg blasted Mayor Brandon Johnson’s handling of those allegations in a July 2024 advisory.
Witzburg publicly urged Johnson to form a task force and “implement a comprehensive, whole-of-government approach to preventing, identifying and eliminating extremist and anti-government activities and associations within CPD.”
Johnson did not form that task force until February 2025. More than a year after it was formed, that task force has yet to show any sign of public progress.
Martin said the task force was not involved in crafting the ordinance set for a vote.
WTTW News coverage of policing and police reform is supported by The Joyce Foundation.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
