Chicago Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez, a member of the mayor’s leadership team, headlined an event Saturday at which some participants chanted “Death to America” and plotted ways to disrupt this summer’s Democratic National Convention in the city.
Sigcho-Lopez made headlines last month for appearing at another anti-convention protest, where he spoke next to a burned American flag. His appearance at the March 22 event prompted a nearly two-hour discussion before the City Council and an effort to remove him as chairman of its housing committee. The measure failed in a 29-16 vote.
After his most recent appearance at Saturday’s event, Sigcho-Lopez is facing a fresh wave of attention, given his role on Mayor Brandon Johnson’s leadership team.
The event, which drew about 300 antiwar activists to the Teamsters union headquarters in Chicago, took place as Iran was launching an attack on Israel. Olivia Reingold, a reporter for The Free Press, embedded with the activists and documented what transpired:
Earlier that day, before news of the attack broke, at a “breakout session” on “the antiwar movement,” Shabbir Rizvi, an organizer with Anti-War Committee Chicago, taught participants how to chant “death to Israel” and “death to America” in Farsi.
“Marg bar Israel,” he chanted, leading a group of about 80 attendees along with him. A man draped in a Soviet flag bearing a gold hammer and sickle clapped his hands.
A man in a full black denim outfit shouted out from behind his N95—“Can we get a ‘marg bar America’?”
“We can get a ‘marg bar America,’” Rizvi replied.
Then Rizvi raised his hand in the air, leading the crowd like a conductor.
“Marg bar America,” they cheered.
The Free Press reported that attendees donned black N95 face masks while plotting ways to disrupt the Democratic National Convention in August.
“It’s really inspiring to see that people are just as enthusiastic, and maybe even more enthusiastic, to march on the DNC as they are to march on the RNC,” said Omar Flores, a Milwaukee-based activist, according to The Free Press. “We can thank Genocide Joe [Biden] and our movement for that.”
Sigcho-Lopez’s appearance at the pro-Palestinian event on March 22 sparked a raucous debate at the City Council’s April 1 meeting. The alderman said he was unaware that a military veteran burned an American flag near where he spoke.
“I make no apologies for standing for First Amendment rights. I think some of my colleagues need to have, maybe, a lesson of what First Amendment rights mean,” Sigcho-Lopez said at the meeting. “If any way, shape, or form, my actions have offended anyone—especially the veterans—I take full accountability, but not once, by no means, I’m going to condemn a veteran for using his First Amendment right.”
Sigcho-Lopez is a member of the Democratic Socialist Caucus of the Chicago City Council. He was first elected in 2019 to represent the 25th Ward.
A fellow member of the Democratic Socialist Caucus, Alderwoman Jeanette Taylor, made headlines of her own last week. Taylor accused the Chicago Fire Department of making race-based decisions when administering tests to firefighters and distributing equipment.
A spokesman for the Chicago Fire Department disputed Taylor’s allegations in a statement to The Daily Signal.
