The sitting mayor of Chicago, Brandon Johnson, has announced he is seeking reelection for the upcoming mayoral election in February 2027, adding himself to the lineup of 14 other candidates [and counting]. Back in 2023, Johnson ran on the progressive ticket of improving the safety of Chicago, which included heavy emphasis on holding law enforcement accountable.
In his announcement to seek reelection, Johnson says his run will force the people of Chicago to “identify the difference between real progressives and posers.” According to Johnson’s track record from the last 3 and a half years, here’s what “real progressives” do:
- Protect the killer cops who have murdered 15 people since he has taken office, let alone utter the names of the victims. Not a single police officer has faced criminal prosecution for murder under Johnson. 2025 alone was CPD’s deadliest year since 2021. Among those killed last year are 57-year-old Timothy Glaze, 19-year-old Nate Fejerang, 21-year-old Aidan English, and 20-year-old Roberto Calvario Jr. Last year also saw the murder of CPD officer Krystal Rivera by her partner Carlos Baker, which Johnson didn’t hesitate to pull up on site in front of press and defend the shooting as a tragedy under investigation. This year, CPD murdered 40-year-old father Derek Jordan in broad daylight around a crowd of civilians telling the pigs NOT to shoot, and Johnson has again remained radio silent to protect his gang. During his victory speech in 2023, he invoked the names of Adam Toledo and Laquan McDonald, suggesting he would hold police accountable. When a civilian is killed, Johnson has never acknowledged the killings, spoken to the families of the victims, or used his influence as mayor to push for criminal accountability for the killer cops. When someone on the force is killed, Johnson is ready to talk. And although Johnson talked about defunding the police to gain some political points following the 2020 rebellion in the wake of the police murder of George Floyd, the CPD budget continues to increase every year, with CPD almost always going over budget halfway through the year.
- Pass a theatrical “cease fire resolution” in 2024 concerning the genocide in Palestine by US-Israeli forces, only to invite the genociders with open arms and brutalize and criminalize protesters during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago months later. In January 2024, Johnson received public acclaim for being the mayor of the largest city to pass a cease fire resolution at the time: a toothless move that does nothing but state “genocide is bad” on paper. During this PR stunt, genocide Joe Biden and the Democratic Party continued to lead the most horrific slaughter of Palestinians to date: the US-Israel genocide in Gaza. With the DNC slated to be hosted in Chicago in August 2024, Johnson warmly welcomed literal war criminals to the city of Chicago, all while bombs fell on Palestinian schools, hospitals, and refugee camps, regardless of a meager cease fire resolution passed by Chicago’s city council. Behind Enemy Lines organized resistance to the DNC and called for a mass demonstration to shut it down. Blocks United (under Dare to Struggle at the time) joined them. On the second day of the DNC, 70 protesters were kettled and arrested in a CPD riot at the Israeli consulate among a frenzy of media. Afterwards, Johnson applauded CPD’s response at the consulate protest, labeling the mass arrests an example of “constitutional policing.” While Brandon Johnson and Democratic Party elites celebrated the butchers of Gaza, Brandon’s right-hand man, CPD superintendent Larry Snelling, made sure any dissent would be squashed through brutal arrests and bullshit charges (which BEL fought and won every case).
- Platform Chicago as a haven for immigrants while leaving immigrants to rot in warehouses, vacant schools, and behind curtains at the O’Hare Airport, or at the mercy of ICE terror in with the help of CPD. While the arrival of over 14,000 asylum-seekers in 2023 was no doubt a reactionary move from Texas Governor Greg Abbott who threw the predominantly Venezuelan immigrants on buses headed to Chicago, Johnson’s failure to handle the crisis as mayor of Chicago is not just a testament to his incompetence but a testament to the system who deems immigrants as disposable as candy wrappers. In December 2023, 5-year-old Venezuelan boy Jean Carlos Martinez Rivero died after a medical emergency in an overcrowded migrant shelter in Pilsen, yet Johnson continued to uplift the incessant amount of non-profit organizations who grifted off crises like these to secure city grants for staff payroll while migrants continue to live in squalor. And last fall, when federal agents invaded Chicago and unleashed terror on immigrants and protesters under operation Midway Blitz, Johnson continued to push the “sanctuary city” front while CPD actively collaborated with the feds, especially after the attempted murder of 30-year-old Marimar Martinez by Border Patrol agent Charles Exum in October 2025, when Chicagoans took to the streets in righteous anger only to be met with brutal resistance by ICE and their back up dogs, the Chicago Police. While Brandon and Governor JB Pritzker claim to enforce Illinois and Chicago’s sanctuary laws, not only have they allowed local police to support ICE, but they’ve also refused to impede or hold them accountable for their crimes; if anything, they join in on the docket of crimes, with frequent reports of migrants being sexually assaulted at CPD stations.
Brandon Johnson is asking the people of Chicago for another 4 years of “progressive” lies. 4 years is 4 years too many, and we cannot afford another 4 years of empty promises that will inevitably cost more lives thrown in Cook County Jail, more lives snatched from their streets and homes by the feds, more lives brutalized and criminalized for defying genocide, and ultimately more lives to be taken from this world under Johnson’s pigs. We also cannot afford another 4 years from any politician claiming to be the best fit to run this city. So long as the position of mayor is obligated to follow the interests of the capitalist-imperialist blueprint of this system, any candidate who brags about having more “experience” than Johnson is just asserting who is a better, well-oiled enemy of the people.
It is not until the masses can have real power and control of their lives that this electoral circus actually ends. That means uniting with the people under the gun of police brutality and refusing to believe politicians’ bullshit plans around police accountability any longer. We will build a movement against police brutality that seeks to jail and punish killer cops for their crimes–and legitimizing toothless review boards that do nothing but attempt to restore people’s faith in a system that oppresses them at every turn. When the families of loved ones who have been murdered by law enforcement call for the killer cops to be charged with murder and jailed, this is the demand we must raise and fight for tooth and nail to force this rotten system to play by its own rules for once, no matter who holds office. It should be no surprise, then, why Johnson has never stood behind this very clear demand from families, since to do so would be to turn against his militant force that protects his position in society.
Join us October 22nd on the National Day of Protest Against Police Brutality (O22) to bring police brutality out of the shadows, exposing the true nature of this system, and that the people will never back down from Johnson or whoever else holds the top pig position in Chicago. We will be going to the people (see our calendar for dates/times/locations–pop out!) and rally them to march with families and loved ones on October 22nd to the CPD headquarters and bring the fight to the enemy’s front door.
burn chicago 