Daywatch: Alderman speaking in front of burnt American flag sparks criticism
Good morning, Chicago.
The charred white stars and blackened, red stripes were all that remained of a burnt American flag on the sidewalk as Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez, 25th, spoke Friday evening during a protest outside City Hall.
The fact Sigcho-Lopez — a progressive ally of Mayor Brandon Johnson who has called for the Democratic National Convention in Chicago to be canceled and criticized President Joe Biden’s handling of the war between Israel and Hamas — attended the rally wasn’t much of a surprise.
But his appearance with the scorched flag that protesters said was once flown during a military tour in Afghanistan by a veteran who burned it Friday to protest Biden’s handling of the war in Gaza has since incensed several of the alderman’s council colleagues. When pictures of Sigcho-Lopez speaking in front of the charred flag were spotted online, several aldermen harshly criticized him on social media over the weekend and have since said they may even consider a council censure vote.
Read the full story from the Tribune’s Jake Sheridan.
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