Firing Domestic Terrorists Could Lead to Officer Shortage

By Patrick Reilly

CHICAGO - Responding to outcry surrounding the perceived light punishment given to Robert Bakker, a Chicago Police officer with ties to the far-right Proud Boys organization, Chicago Police Department spokesperson Tom Ahern explained that if CPD fired every police officer who was a part of an extremist organization, they wouldn’t have any officers left.

“We understand the public’s concern,” Ahern wrote in a press release on Truth Social, “but we want to reaffirm this department’s commitment to allowing violent right-wing extremists to patrol our street with virtually no oversight. Whether a police officer is a Proud Boy, a neo-Nazi, a Klansman, or even if he just has multiple excessive force complaints like me, CPD stands by our uniformed officers’ free speech rights. Unless they blow the whistle on police misconduct.”

Robert Bakker, a member of the right-wing militia the Proud Boys that was involved in the January 6th insurrection, was given a brief paid vacation until the controversy over his membership blows over. He was briefly investigated when it became clear he had misled officials about his participation in the domestic terror group, but was ultimately allowed to remain on the force.

The Police Department estimates that if they were required to fire every officer who was a proven member of a right wing extremist organization, Department manpower could be reduced by up to 100%.

John Catanzara, President of the Fraternal Order of Police and himself a former officer accused of right wing extremist ties, said in a statement to One America News, “What kind of world would we live in, if officers like myself or Robert Bakker were forced off the streets? One where officers were held accountable for their actions, that’s what. Checkmate, liberals.”

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