On Wednesday, the Chicago City Council is expected to vote on a proposed substitute ordinance, which, if approved, would allow the Chicago Police Department (CPD) to remove officers connected to far-right extremist groups.
Ald. Matt Martin (47th Ward) is the lead sponsor of the ordinance, which was passed 6-3 by members of the council’s workforce development committee on April 13.
“Prohibiting CPD members’ participation in extremist activities enhances the performance of critical law enforcement duties by building public trust and maintaining the integrity of the Department,” the legislation reads.
The current version of the ordinance would give the Civilian Office of Police Accountability the power to investigate extremism allegations, and it also directs the city’s Office of Public Safety Administration to examine potential extremist behavior as part of CPD’s hiring process, according to Martin.
Under the ordinance, no CPD officer can actively participate in any extremist activity. Active participation includes: fundraising for, or making personal contributions through donations of any kind; distributing promotional materials; and displaying words or symbols in support of extremist activities or in support of groups or organizations that support extremist activities, such as flags, tattoos, bumper stickers, and more.
“Chicagoans cannot trust an institution that tolerates extremism, particularly white supremacist extremism, to keep their community safe. Law enforcement officers are the only city employees with the legal power to commit violence and even exact death in the course of their day jobs,” Loren Jones said during today’s committee meeting.
She’s the director of criminal legal assistance at Impact for Equity, which is committed to addressing racism and systemic oppression in Chicago.
“With that power, they have the responsibility to be fair and objective, seeing beyond a person’s race, ethnicity, gender and political affiliation as they deserve who is or is not a threat to public safety, an officer who affiliates with groups that champion hate, bias and fascism, cannot be trusted to perform the most critical element of this job,” Jones continued.
Members of the committee discussed the proposed ordinance for about an hour. During the debate, those in opposition, such as Alders Derrick Curtis (18th Ward) and Nicholas Sposato (38th Ward), said it was unfair to mention Chicago police officers while excluding other city employees.
In a email to The TRiiBE, a CPD spokesperson confirmed their support of the proposed ordinance: “To clarify, the Chicago Police Department is supportive of this measure and believes every City employee should be held to the same standards outlined in this proposed ordinance.”
The first version of the ordinance was introduced last year by Martin and included both city employees and Chicago police officers. Curtis added that he would have voted for the current version if it were enforced across departments citywide.
“This is a very accusatory type of ordinance we’re singling out police,” Sposato said. “Once again, we can’t stop with the January 6 thing. We don’t mention the damn thing about the Black Lives Matter riot.” He also brought up the slogan: “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free,” which is used as a rallying cry by members of the Pro-Palestine movement, but it’s regarded as anti-Semitic and hate speech by pro-Israel groups.
“That’s hateful speech. That’s anti-Semitic speech,” he said.
To that point, Ald. Desmon Yancy (5th Ward) said: “It sounds like my colleague thinks that the phrase from the river to the sea is problematic, especially for city employees, but it’s not anti-American. At least I don’t think it is. I don’t know everything, but I don’t think it’s anti-American.”
In addition, Yancy also mentioned experiences that he’s had with the police. In 2016, he participated in a protest outside the Fraternal Order of Police headquarters with the Grassroots Alliance for Police Accountability.
“At that time, armed police officers on duty called us n—ggers and monkeys. I don’t want those officers carrying guns patrolling our neighborhood,” Yancy said. “As a Black American it doesn’t feel safe when law enforcement officers are carrying guns while verbalizing this kind of hatred.”
Yancy voted in favor of the proposed ordinance.
“I don’t see the problem with the mechanism that holds law enforcement officers accountable when they are tied to extremist groups that are looking to stifle my own rights as a human being and as a resident of this city, state, and country,” he said.
The calls to fire Chicago police officers with ties to far-right hate groups have become more urgent since the 2024 election of President Donald Trump. During his campaign, Trump has unabashedly used harmful and racist rhetoric and has vowed to give full immunity from prosecution to police officers.
“I do feel, at the end of the day, despite me wanting this to have a broader application, I believe that the pare down substitute ordinance before this committee is responsive to issues that have been identified nationally and locally, and is better to move forward than to do nothing at all,” Martin said.
In 2025, Mayor Brandon Johnson launched a new task force to address extremism within CPD and other city agencies. The task force is charged with examining the more than 32,000 people who work for the city of Chicago, according to data from the city’s Inspector General’s Office.
Wednesday’s City Council meeting will begin at 10:00 a.m. The meeting can be viewed here.
Correction: An earlier version of this story included a quote from CPD Deputy Chief Traci Walker, who said the department is neutral on the proposed ordinance during today’s committee meeting. In a email to The TRiiBE, a CPD spokesperson confirmed their support: “To clarify, the Chicago Police Department is supportive of this measure and believes every City employee should be held to the same standards outlined in this proposed ordinance.”
