'Total disregard': Police officers caught 'lounging' as looters wreak havoc

Updated 11 June 2020 at 7:17 pm·2-min read

More than a dozen on-duty police officers have been captured lounging inside a burglarised local politician’s office as hundreds of protesters caused havoc outside.

Surveillance footage from inside US Congressman Bobby Rush’s office in Chicago, Illinois, showed officers kicking back on June 1 after the building was broken into by rioters, Fox 32 Chicago reported.

Mr Rush encountered the damning video after sifting through footage following his office being broken into, handing it over to the mayor who has since publicly condemned the officers.

This officer was shown laying back on a couch inside US Congressman Bobby Rush’s Chicago office. Source: Fox 32 — This officer was shown laying back on a couch inside the politician's office. Source: Fox 32

“The officers we’ve seen in this incident and others we’ve seen in the past week have demonstrated a total disregard for their colleagues, for the badge, and for those that were sworn to serve and protect,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said on Thursday (local time).

“These officers will be held accountable. This will be investigated thoroughly. These officers, and their supervisors, will be identified, and they will be held to account.”

Ms Lightfoot said she would not allow the officers to “hide behind the badge” and act as though “nothing ever happened”.

“Not in my city, not in your city,” she said.

Mr Rush also expressed his dismay at the officer’s actions, accusing them of lounging around on his property while crime was being committed “within their sight and within their reach”.

More than a dozen Chicago police officers were filmed relaxing while crime unfolded in front of them outside. Source: Fox 32 — More than a dozen officers were filmed slacking off while crime unfolded in front of them outside. Source: Fox 32

“They even had the unmitigated gall to make coffee for themselves and to pop popcorn, my popcorn, in my microwave, while looters were tearing apart businesses,” Mr Rush said.

Ms Lightfoot described the incident as a “personal embarrassment” and insisted the nature of officer behaviour captured by Mr Rush could not continue.

“I do have a range of emotions as I stand here. But mostly, I'm done. We cannot go on like this anymore,” she said.

Demonstrations swept the country in the two weeks since Mr Floyd, an unarmed black man, 46, died after choking out the words "I can't breathe" under the knee of white police officer Derek Chauvin.

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