Chicago City Wire

Chicago 33rd Ward Ald. Rossana Rodriguez has somehow found a way to equate Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson’s statements on “defund the police” with efforts of “creating safety & well-being.”

Posting images of the launch of Brandon's runoff campaign in the 33rd Ward, Rodriguez opined what the real platforms of the two Chicago mayoral candidates are.

“While the Paul Vallas campaign runs on a message of fear and individualistic ideas, at Brandon camp we focus on collective care and building structures that allow for creating safety & well-being #ForTheMany," Rodriguez tweeted. "So moved by the love all these neighbors have for community.” 

In 2020 Johnson was unequivocal in his thoughts on police funding. At the time Johnson was advocating for the Justice for Black Lives resolution he introduced. 

“This resolution is the first step in a series of measures designed to bring justice, equity and equal protection under the law in the second largest county in the nation,” Johnson said in a statement, according to the Wednesday Journal. 

The resolution stated that Cook County “shall redirect money from the failed and racist systems of policing, criminalization, and incarceration that have not kept our communities safe, and will instead invest that money in public services not administered by law enforcement that promote community health and safety equitably across the county, but especially in Black and Brown communities most impacted by violence and incarceration.”

Over two years later and nearing the end of a runoff that will decide the next mayor of Chicago Johnson has since walked back that stance. 

“As far as my vision for public safety, I’m not going to defund the police,” Johnson told Block Club Chicago. “But what I am committed to doing is to make sure that we are actually investing in a smart way.” 

Johnson added that there is too much being asked of law enforcement, "and we also have a disconnect between law enforcement and communities which they have been assigned to" which is something to be fixed. 

Paul Vallas the top vote-getter in the primary with 38 percent of the vote to Johnson’s 22 percent is calling out Johnson on those claims. 

“Brandon Johnson is lying when he claims that he’s never supported defunding the police. Here’s the truth,” Vallas, Johnson’s opponent in the April election said on Twitter.  

Vallas linked to a video of a radio interview Johnson gave in 2020. 

“There are some folks who are offended by this idea of defunding the police," Johson said in the video excerpt. "There are folks who are afraid of that terminology that we're shipping money away from police and incarceration. What do people not understand about this demand?”