Video shared on Twitter shows someone removing a photograph of slain Chicago Police Officer Ella French and crumbling it up in their hand inside the Thompson Center.
The footage originally appeared on an account that claims to be operated by a DePaul University graduate who actively promotes communism in the city. CWBChicago is not identifying the woman by name because we could not independently verify that she is responsible for the post or the vandalism.
In the video, someone records themself walking up to the memorial display inside the Thompson Center atrium, removing a photo of French, and crunching it into a ball.
“I got ‘ma’am’ed once but kept walking without looking back [with] my big headphones on #AbolitionNow,” the poster wrote in the text accompanying the video.
Another tweet, accompanied only by a “satisfied” emoji, shows the wrinkled photo of French sitting inside a CTA trash bin.
The poster shared another video that shows them trying to kick the entire memorial over, but the display only moved a couple of inches. “That didn’t pan out,” they wrote.
“Officer Ella French will live forever in our hearts,” the Chicago Police Department said in a statement after the video surfaced. “She was kind, respectful, compassionate, brave, loyal, dedicated, selfless. The exact opposite of this senseless act of vandalism.”
Twitter users quickly researched the purported poster of the videos and began calling for her to be fired from her job.
But the company that the woman lists on her LinkedIn profile said she is actually a former employee.
“We are disgusted by what she has done and want to make clear to everyone that this person’s opinions in no way represent the perspectives or values of Clockedin,” the company said on social media Saturday. “Our sympathies go out to the families affected by this incident.’
After the videos began circulating widely on Twitter, the original poster made their account private and repeatedly changed its name. At the time of publication, the profile is active as @ReadFanonSucker.
The Illinois State Police is responsible for investigating the incident because it happened on state property.
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