![]() ![]() Just 90 minutes int o the new year came Chicago’s first criminal homicide of 2023. While inside the senator’s office, Chwiesiuk stopped to take the selfie and send the text to his friend that he was inside the Capitol, the complaint alleged.By: Matt Rosenberg, Ted Dabrowski and John KlingnerĬhicago, New Orleans were the nation’s murder capitals in 2022 “There are so many blacks here I’m actually in disbelief.”Īfter entering the Capitol with the rest of the mob, Chwiesiuk proceeded to Merkley’s office “where at least two individuals are seen smoking what appear to be cigars at approximately the same time” Chwiesiuk was in the room, according to the complaint. ![]() “Mericans, yes,” Chwiesiuk replied, according to the complaint. “Token black guy?” the friend texted back. He allegedly sent photos of himself with a group of people at Trump’s rally standing with a Black man wearing a red hat with a pro-Trump slogan. 3 that he was going to Washington “to save the nation.”Ĭhwiesiuk arrived in Washington the day before the attack and checked into the Mayflower Hotel under his sister’s name, according to the charges. One text string included in the complaint showed that Chwiesiuk told his friend on Jan. Geolocation captured his cellular phone in and around the Capitol, prosecutors said, and included texts from the phone in the paperwork. 6 siege while wearing a designer coat and pro-Trump hat.Īccording to the complaint, Chwiesiuk was captured in photos wearing a CPD hoodie. The officer’s text allegedly telling his friend “don’t snitch,” in fact, alludes to a code of the city’s streets that police often condemn when trying to get citizens in communities plagued by violence to come forward and cooperate.Ĭhwiesiuk was at least the 10th Illinoisan to be federally charged as part of the ongoing investigation into the Capitol attack, which prosecutors have described as one of the largest criminal investigations in American history.Įarlier this week, Christian Kulas, 24, of Kenilworth, was arrested on charges alleging he posted video of himself on Instagram storming the Capitol building during the Jan. The timing of the charges against Chwiesiuk is particularly damaging for Lightfoot’s administration, which is working under a federal consent decree that aims to repair the badly broken relationship between the police and communities like the one on Chicago’s West Side that Chwiesiuk patrolled. In Philadelphia, a police detective was reassigned as the department looks into her possible presence at the rally for Trump that preceded the Capitol attack, The Philadelphia Inquirer has reported. cities reportedly did the same examination, including the New York Police Department. Other major police departments in large U.S. ![]() Days after the riot, the Police Department announced it was looking into whether any of its officers participated in the incident, but none was ever publicly identified as part of that probe. The case against Chwiesiuk marks the first criminal charges for a Chicago cop stemming from the Capitol incident. Catanzara could not immediately be reached for comment. Lightfoot also ripped into Chicago Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara, who initially downplayed the riot before apologizing for his remarks. “We have to stand in one clear, united voice and say, ‘Not in this time, not in this place, will we ever tolerate hate.’” “This isn’t about a single police officer charged with a heinous crime, a heinous assault on our democracy,” she said. Lightfoot reiterated that the city stands against hate. “This kind of behavior can never be tolerated here in Chicago, not in our Police Department or anywhere else in our city,” she said. Participating in the siege on the Capitol in any way was a betrayal of everything we stand for, the oath (and) the law.”īut, Brown said, the department “will not allow anyone to tarnish our shining star, to bend it, twist it or sully its true meaning.”Īt the same briefing, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said the officer’s alleged actions are “a total disgrace to the badge.” “And yes, if these allegations are true, it breaks my heart. “The fact that a Chicago police officer has been charged in that attack on American democracy makes my blood boil, makes me sick to my stomach,” Brown said. riots “an absolute disgrace” at a Friday news conference at City Hall. An initial appearance was set for Thursday in Washington.Ĭhicago police Superintendent David Brown called the D.C. The charges each carry up to a year in prison if convicted. Chwiesiuk also is disappointed in himself, Grace said, meaning he understands this was not the way to protest, but “we still do have a First Amendment in this country.”Ĭhwiesiuk spoke only briefly during the 45-minute hearing, answering, “Yes I do,” when asked by the judge if he understood the terms of his bond. Grace said his client comes from a hardworking Northwest Side family and formerly worked at Cook County Jail. ![]()
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