CHICAGO _ Chicago police officers made popcorn and coffee in the office of U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., while nearby businesses were being looted, he announced at a stunning news conference alongside Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
Rush's South Side campaign office was looted about two weeks ago during widespread civil unrest in the wake of George Floyd's killing by Minneapolis police. Looters also went into a nearby plaza of businesses, he said.
Rush said he got a call that his campaign offices at 54th Street and South Wentworth Avenue had been burglarized, and there was video of eight or more police officers "lounging in my office" as looters were in the shopping center nearby.
Rush looked at the video and saw eight or more cops, including three supervisors, with their feet up on desks, he said.
"One was asleep on my couch in my campaign office," Rush said.
"They even had the unmitigated gall to go and make coffee for themselves and make coffee for themselves and to pop popcorn, my popcorn, in my microwave while looters were tearing apart businesses within their sight and within their reach," Rush said.
Rush brought the matter to Lightfoot's attention on Wednesday, and the information "enraged" her and her team, Lightfoot said.
Lightfoot apologized to Rush during the news conference on behalf of the city for his office being treated "with such profound disrespect."
"That's a personal embarrassment to me," Lightfoot said. "I'm sorry that you and your staff even had to deal with this incredible indignity."
As she spoke, Lightfoot played a slideshow of the police officers in Rush's office while pledging to hold them accountable for their actions. "Not one of these officers will be allowed to hide behind the badge and go on and act like nothing ever happened," she said.
But Lightfoot stopped short of calling for the cops to be fired, saying only that she supports the strongest possible action being taken against them.
Rush is a co-founder of the Illinois Black Panther Party and has been in Congress since 1993, representing parts of the South Side, Cook and Will counties. He was a Chicago alderman for a decade before that.
He lost a race for Chicago mayor in 1999 and in 2000 beat back a primary challenge from future President Barack Obama. Rush has had a contentious relationship with Lightfoot, whom he falsely accused of being the Fraternal Order of Police's chosen candidate in 2019.
While campaigning for Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle last year, Rush said those who voted for Lightfoot would have "the blood of the next young black man or black woman who is killed by the police" on their hands.
Alluding to that history, Lightfoot said they were together against the alleged police misconduct.
"We haven't always agreed on every issue, but today, we are in total alignment in our righteous anger and our steadfast determination, and I want to make sure that's very clear," Lightfoot said. "What I know of Congressman Rush is this _ he has committed his life to calling out and fighting against injustice and this presents exactly one of those moments."
Rush also said he didn't give her the benefit of the doubt before but now stands "without any doubt, any doubt, any doubt in my heart, in my mind and in my spirit that she is absolutely committed to the well-being of all Chicagoans, bar none."
The news about police misconduct at Rush's office comes as some Chicago police officers are being scrutinized for their conduct during the protests and civil unrest that followed Floyd's killing. Lightfoot and police leaders have praised most Chicago cops for being respectful and restrained with the public but have pledged zero tolerance for those who don't.
The Cook County state's attorney's office and the FBI are reviewing allegations that Chicago police pulled a woman from a car by her hair and placed a knee on her neck.
Chicago Police Board President Ghian Foreman, who oversees the panel in charge of serious officer discipline, said cops hit him with batons as they clashed with protesters who marched on the South Side over Floyd's killing.
And a Chicago cop who was called out by Lightfoot after being photographed making an obscene gesture at protesters last week has been stripped of his police powers and moved to administrative tasks, according to the Police Department.
