CHICAGO (HPD) — A Chicago police officer linked to the far-right Proud Boys has been suspended for 120 days but will not be fired, the city’s oversight agency announced.
In its most recent quarterly report, the Office of the Inspector General indicated that a lengthy internal investigation at the police department was resolved with a “mediation agreement” in which the officer agreed not to contest the accusations against him, the Chicago Sun reported. -Times.
The police officer was not identified by name in the document, but in earlier newspaper articles, Officer Robert Bakker acknowledged participating in Proud Boys chat groups, and the police department confirmed that Bakker was, in fact, the research subject.
Two years ago, the investigation into links between Bakker and the Proud Boys was first reported. Since then, the group, which the nonprofit Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled extremist, has been at the center of a criminal investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on Capitol Hill.
A former leader and other members of the group are currently on trial in federal court in the nation’s capital.
Bakker, already under investigation for failing to disclose to the police department that he was being investigated by the FBI, could not immediately be reached for comment. The police department declined to comment.
The Office of the Inspector General determined that a police department investigation by the office of internal affairs revealed that Bakker “made a contradictory statement” about his participation in a Proud Boys chat group and lied about attending a Proud Boys-sponsored event. by Proud Boys, the newspaper reported.
Bakker has acknowledged to the newspaper after being contacted for an article about him in 2020 that he posted messages on the Proud Boys Telegram channel but claimed never to have been a member of the group.