Demand is growing for Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to fire one of his top aides, Kennedy Bartley, who serves as the Mayor’s Managing Deputy of External Relations, for comments she made during a 2021 podcast interview.
On the podcast “This Is Your Afterlife with Dave Maher,” during a discussion of the killing of a young Black person in Colorado, Bartley called police “f***ing pigs.”
“If I die at the hands of the f***ing pigs, don’t name s**t after me. I don’t want legislation named after me. I would be honored if it got more folks to abolition,” Bartley said.
Bartley also accused police of “lynching Black folks every day.”
Although several aldermen have called for Bartley to be fired, her duties have recently expanded.
Last week, Bartley’s responsibilities reportedly expanded to oversee the mayor’s legislative affairs team, which is in charge of lobbying the City Council and Springfield to support the Johnson agenda. It’s led to turmoil in the department and at least one high-profile resignation.
On Wednesday, some aldermen expressed their frustration and indicated they would not work with Bartley.
“I’m beyond disgusted,” said Alderman Anthony Napolitano (41st Ward). “It’s another demonization of the police department. She should’ve been vetted a lot better.”
Alderman David Moore (17th Ward) echoed the sentiment, saying, “I don’t want someone so left-wing that we can’t work together to move things forward for our community.”
Bartley also defended the rioting and looting that occurred during BLM protests and criticized people of color for supporting the police.
NEW: A top aide to Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson referred to police officers as “fucking pigs” while advocating for total abolition of the Chicago Police Department.
A protege of Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates, Johnson earlier this year hired Kennedy Bartley… https://t.co/MK7vA0y3VZ pic.twitter.com/Yhy74gepdz
— Austin Berg (@Austin__Berg) September 11, 2024
Although Bartley’s social media is currently locked down, a screen image purported to be hers shows her repeating the genocidal “From the river to the sea” slogan favored by anti-semites.
Yeah, it’s the same Kennedy Bartley who now works at City Hall, two days after the most devastating attack on Israel since 1948 and the worst single-day murder of Jews since the Holocaust.
Bartley despises CPD and Jews, but she won’t lose her job working with @ChicagosMayor. pic.twitter.com/YmGhGVRZHI
— Chicago Contrarian (@ChicagoContrar1) September 12, 2024
Bartley also serves as Executive Director of United Working Families (UWF).