Officer Robert Bakker returned to full duty Wednesday, two weeks after members of the City Council’s Public Safety Committee demanded that Chicago Police Department officials do more to weed out extremists from the department’s ranks.
Capitol Insurrection
The department wrote that although a president enjoys broad legal latitude to communicate to the public on matters of concern, “no part of a President’s official responsibilities includes the incitement of imminent private violence.”
“Ever since my final falling-out with the GOP, on the day of the deadly January 6 attack on the Capitol by Donald Trump’s followers, I have wanted to tell the inside story of how my party and also my faith have been hijacked by extremists who represent a real danger to our democracy,” Kinzinger said in a statement.
Twice in the past three months, probes by the city’s watchdog have uncovered ties between members of the Chicago Police Department and far-right extremist groups that have clashed with the United States government.
Chicago Police Officer Who Admitted Being a Member of the Oath Keepers Won’t Be Fired: City Watchdog
The Oath Keepers organization is considered by the FBI to be 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.”
More than 930 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the siege on Jan. 6, 2021, and the tally increases by the week. Hundreds more people remain at large on the second anniversary of the unprecedented assault that was fueled by lies that the 2020 election was stolen.
President Joe Biden on Friday will present the nation’s second highest civilian award to 12 individuals involved in defending the Capitol during the insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, and safeguarding the will of American voters in the 2020 presidential election.
Allowing the man to return to work as a Chicago police officer will “create an environment of impunity for other officers who may associate with violent groups and contribute to the erosion of trust between the public and law enforcement authorities,” according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Lawmakers said they wanted to make their work public to underscore the seriousness of the attack and Trump’s multi-pronged effort to try to overturn the election.
Outgoing Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger said Sunday he fears for the future of the country if former President Donald Trump isn’t charged with a crime related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, though he believes the Justice Department will “do the right thing.”
The House Jan. 6 committee has dropped its subpoena against former President Donald Trump as it wraps up work and prepares to dissolve next week.
A massive final report released by the House Jan. 6 committee late Thursday places the blame for the 2021 Capitol insurrection on one person: former President Donald Trump.
As they cap one of the most exhaustive and aggressive congressional probes in memory, the panel’s seven Democrats and two Republicans recommended criminal charges against Trump and potentially against associates and staff who helped him launch a multifaceted pressure campaign to try to overturn his 2020 election loss.
Federal investigators allegedly identified Agnieszka Chwiesiuk in photos and videos from inside the Capitol building during the riot. According to the feds, she can be seen alongside her brother, Karol Chwiesiuk, a CPD officer who is facing five misdemeanor charges stemming from his own alleged involvement in the riot.
The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol has decided to make criminal referrals to the Department of Justice, the panel’s chairman, Rep. Bennie Thompson, told reporters Tuesday.
James McNamara, 61, was charged in federal court in Washington D.C. this week with felony counts of assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement officers and interfering with law enforcement officers during a civil disorder, as well as five other misdemeanor charges.
