Chicago City Wire

Alderman of Chicago’s 42nd Ward, Brendan Rielly, said alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez speaking to a group of pro-Palestine protestors while they burned an American flag is “a disgraceful act.”

“This is totally unacceptable and a disgraceful act,” Rielly said in a post on X. “Hundreds of thousands of Americans have fought under that flag to protect our democracy & our freedoms. They fought for the freedom of expression my colleague makes use of often - for him to desecrate the flag that symbolizes those freedoms is unpatriotic & wrong.”

A series of photos posted by Matthew Kaplan on Instagram showed a group of protestors burning an American flag, and alderman Sicgho-Lopez speaking to the group with a microphone in front of the burned flag afterwards. The protests claimed Democrat leaders in the country have not done enough to support Palestine. 

The group was protesting the Democratic National Convention, which is scheduled to be held in Chicago this August. Protestors have been seeking permits to hold protest marches throughout the Convention, but were denied by the Chicago Department of Transportation. They filed a lawsuit against the city on Friday, claiming their first amendment rights were being violated by the denial, CBS News Chicago reported. 

Sigcho-Lopez was born in Ecuador. He earned a bachelor's degree from Cumberland University and a master's degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago. He represents the city’s 25th ward, which includes Pilsen, Little Village, University Village, and Marshall Square.

Rielly has served on Chicago's city council since 2007. His district, the 42nd ward, contains Chicago’s Central Business District and holds almost 60% of the city's economic activity.