The city government of Chicago is opening an investigation into a video depicting over a dozen police officers relaxing inside a looted building during a weekend of riots, as reported by Yahoo News.
In the video, the group of officers are seen inside a looted congressional campaign office, engaging in such casual activities as making popcorn and coffee, while looting and protests occurred outside and around them. The video was first brought to the attention of Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D-Ill.) by Congressman Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), whose district includes the location where the video was captured.
The incident allegedly took place during the weekend of Sunday, May 31st, and Monday, June 1st. Sunday marked the single deadliest day in Chicago’s history, with a record of 18 homicides, as a result of the violent race riots taking place in the city that have been happening around the country. An “angry” and “disgusted” Mayor Lightfoot confirmed that the incident would be investigated by both Chicago PD’s Internal Affairs, as well as the Civilian Office of Police Accountability.Lightfoot herself has faced intense criticism for her soft approach to the rioters, refusing National Guard assistance and largely allowing the rioters to run loose. In leaked audio from a conference call, Lightfoot went into an expletive-laden tirade against Democratic Alderman Raymond Lopez when he pointed out that law enforcement was not being fully utilized to stop the violence.