The scathing inspector general report on how Chicago police handled the George Floyd protests last spring drew sharp responses from across the city Thursday.
Shortly after Joseph Ferguson’s report was released, saying the department’s response was marked by “confusion and lack of coordination” that risked the safety of both police and citizens, activists who took part in the protests said they weren’t surprised.
Amika Tendaji, executive director of Black Lives Matter Chicago, noted that the Justice Department placed the Chicago Police Department under a consent decree in part for abusive tactics and poor training.
“These are the same officers who could not observe the law when the DOJ was in the car with them,” Tendaji said.
Chicago police could have taken simple steps to improve the situation on the streets during the huge marches and widespread looting that gripped the city following Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police in May, Tendaji said.
“The officers could have worn masks. They could have been honest with lawyers and allowed people their phone calls, and not performed illegal incommunicado detentions for thousands of people all summer,” she said.
According to Ferguson’s report, Mayor Lori Lightfoot told the inspector general’s office, “(T)his was clearly a concerted effort to bring chaos to our cities. Who were these people? … (T)his was a conspiracy, sophisticated, paid for and promoted by someone in multiple cities across the country at the same time. That’s not a coincidence.”
The Lightfoot administration released a statement in response to Ferguson’s report blaming outside agitators and saying the events “challenged our resources.” The statement did not address questions about Lightfoot’s own role in the response.
Northwest Side Ald. Nick Sposato, 36th, said the police response “may not have been the best” as new police Superintendent David Brown tried to formulate a citywide response to a chaotic, rapidly evolving situation.
But Sposato, a strong supporter of the Police Department, said rank-and-file officers “showed incredible restraint” in highly challenging situations.
Sposato said the protesters “found a perfect storm with the new superintendent trying to get a handle on things. But I’ll tell you this much: I have the utmost confidence the next time will be different.”
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For the mayor, the watchdog report comes at a moment when several politically difficult Police Department issues are on the front burner.
Joining Tendaji and others at a news conference to decry Lightfoot’s decision to use federal COVID-19 relief money on police payroll, North Side Ald. Andre Vasquez on Thursday noted a City Council committee hearing scheduled for Friday on civilian police oversight got delayed after the mayor indicated she would bring forward her own proposal.
“I think people across the city should question really what kind of confidence there is in the executive branch to have any say in the accountability of police officers, especially in light of the report from the inspector general,” said Vasquez, 40th.
And Damon Williams of the #LetUsBreathe Collective said the department’s disorganization in the face of the protests shouldn’t be an excuse for officers’ behavior.
“The Chicago Police Department did not get their original experience with excessive force after the death of George Floyd,” Williams said. “And if you look at the footage, they were well prepared and well rehearsed to take that type of force. And I will also acknowledge it happened in cities across the country, so this is something structural to policing.”
