After alderman spoke in front of burned American flag, some colleagues seek formal punishment
CHICAGO (CBS)-- A group of Chicago alderpeople and several military veterans on Wednesday called for Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th) to resign his seat as chair of the City Council's Housing Committee after he spoke at a protest rally last week where an American flag was burned.
Sigcho-Lopez's critics said if Mayor Brandon Johnson doesn't demand Sigcho-Lopez – one of the mayor's progressive allies – step down as Housing Committee chair, they will call for a special City Council meeting to remove him.
On Friday, Sigcho-Lopez spoke at a rally where protesters called for canceling the Democratic National Convention in Chicago and criticized President Joe Biden's handling of the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas. Pro-Palestinian groups have repeatedly called on Biden to demand a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
Video from the rally shows a man setting fire to the American flag, and photos show Sigcho-Lopez later speaking with the charred remains of the flag in front of him.
"How can an elected official stand over a charred American flag and advocate properly for veterans?" Army veteran Marco Torres said.
Sigcho-Lopez said the flag was burned before he arrived at the rally, but he wasn't aware that it had happened before he spoke. He also said he does not condone burning the American flag.
He has accused his critics of distorting the facts, calling their condemnation of him "political theater."
The alderman's critics said while he might not have been the one who burned the flag, they believe he should have spoken out against the flag burning.
"Byron has the right to be inflammatory as you do," Ald. Bill Conway (34th) told the protesters who interrupted the press conference. "But he has a bigger responsibility as a committee chair and member of the mayor's leadership team because this job isn't about elevating people who want to burn everything down. It's about bringing people together to build our communities up."
Some of Sigcho-Lopez's colleagues also criticized him for standing in front of a banner that said: "Cancel The DNC, No Genocide Joe In Chicago." Some pro-Palestinian protesters have dubbed President Joe Biden as "Genocide Joe" for not demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
"We're not accusing him of violating any constitutional rights, but what we are saying is his conduct, and his speech were reprehensible, to a point where we are demanding that he give account for his actions," said Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29th), a Marine veteran.
Sigcho-Lopez said he's opposed to having the DNC in Chicago because of Biden's stance on a ceasefire in Gaza, his handling of immigration, and what he sees as a lack of support for fighting homelessness.
"I have every right to say it, and I'm not going to apologize for standing up for my community and for working people," he said.
The organizers of Friday's protest said the person who burned the flag was a Marine veteran who was protesting Israel's actions in Gaza and paying tribute to U.S. Air Force airman Aaron Bushnell, who died after setting himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington D.C., last month in protest of the war in Gaza.
Sigcho-Lopez defended that Marine veteran's First Amendment right to protest the DNC and Biden by burning a flag.
"My colleagues should actually talk to this veteran. To this day, they haven't," he said. "What he's talking about is housing for veterans, talking about mental health for veterans, talking about Aaron Bushnell, who is an airman who burned himself alive, saying that this is what the status quo, this is what the ruling class want to normalize. That's what he said. Free Palestine. That's what he was elevating."
The alderman said his critics were simply using what happened at the protest rally as an opportunity to criticize him because they disagree with his progressive politics.
"What are the issues they have with me? The real issues that they have with me is because I'm not allowing to normalize what the ruling class want, [which] is to see veterans unhoused without mental health care; to brutalize kids and women in Gaza; to dehumanize immigrants, to criminalize them here," he said.
The alderpeople who have called for Sigcho-Lopez to be removed as Housing Committee chair were met at City Hall with pro-Palestinian protesters who loudly interrupted their press conference, chanting "Free Palestine," and "Alders, alders, you can't hide, we charge you with genocide."
Removing Sigcho-Lopez as committee chair would require a majority vote by the full City Council. So far, only 11 alderpeople have publicly demanded his removal – Alds. Marty Quinn (13th), Raymond Lopez (15th), Silvana Tabares (23rd), Chris Taliaferro (29th), Felix Cardona (31st), Bill Conway (34th), Gilbert Villegas (36th), Nicholas Sposato (38th), Anthony Napolitano (41st), Brendan Reilly (42nd), and Deb Silverstein (50th) – far short of the 26 votes that would be needed.
Earlier, some aldermen had suggested the City Council also formally censure Sigcho-Lopez, but his critics did not mention a possible censure at Wednesday's press conference.
This is the second time a close ally of the mayor's has been asked to step down from a leadership role in the time the Johnson administration has been in office. Back in November, Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th) agreed to resign his leadership positions as the mayor's floor leader and as chair of the City Council Zoning Committee after a bullying incident with another alderman during a special City Council meeting.
CBS 2 reached out to the Mayor's office, which had no comment.