Chicago PD Officers Reportedly Broke Into And Lounged In Rep. Bobby Rush’s Office Amid Looting

At a news conference on Thursday, Illinois Rep. Bobby Rush revealed that officers from the Chicago Police Department had broken into his campaign office recently, where they were caught on video lounging, eating his food, and even napping as looters and provocateurs incited chaos, violence, and destruction within visual range of the area.

As reported by NBC 5 Chicago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot joined Rush at the conference, where the two showed security camera footage taken from the office, which is located at 5401 S Wentworth Avenue in Chicago. That footage showed that as many as 13 officers — including some that hold supervisory positions on the force — had entered the office following the break-in.

In the images shown by Rush and Lightfoot, officers were depicted relaxing at Rush’s desk, talking on the phone, and even making popcorn as other officers in the area were working the streets to rein in looting and other criminal activity that was taking place alongside the peaceful protests that were being conducted in response to the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25.

According to Chicago Police Department First Deputy Superintendent Anthony Riccio, 120 officers were injured on the night in question.

Rush’s campaign office had been closed following primary elections in March. However, it was reportedly looted over the weekend of May 30 and 31. The congressman, who was informed of the incident two weeks ago, said his staff noticed someone had broken into the area upon entering on Monday, June 1. At Thursday’s news conference, he strongly decried the actions of the officers responsible.

“[Eating] my popcorn, in my microwave while looters were tearing apart businesses within their reach,” a visibly emotional Rush said. “And they did not care what was happening.”

“Look at this guy, sleeping on a congressman’s couch,” Lightfoot said while pointing out an image of one of the offending officers.

Lightfoot went on to invoke the oath sworn by all Chicago PD officers to serve and protect. She chastised those that seemingly aren’t adhering to the directive in South Side and West Side Chicago neighborhoods, where “black and brown communities were looted and left to burn.” She further promised that the incident would be thoroughly investigated and that the officers involved would be identified and held accountable for their actions.

Protesters in the city have called for Lightfoot to defund the Chicago PD and remove officers from schools. More recently — as reported by The Inquisitr — actress Natalie Portman used her Instagram account recently to join the growing ranks of celebrities who are supporting defunding movements.