Apparently, you are only afforded rights in the city of Chicago if you are on some pre-approved list that consists of politicians, celebrities and “peaceful protesters.” Well, that is unless you’re standing on the street where Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot resides. In that case, you’re not afforded your Constitutional rights, whether it’s your right to peaceably assemble or the right to freedom of the press.
In case you needed more proof that Lightfoot operates by the mantra, ‘Rules for thee, but not for me,’ The Blaze TV reporter Elijah Schaffer attempted to report outside the mayor’s home over the weekend but was met with resistance from Lightfoot’s personal security — Chicago police officers.
Schaffer was reportedly there to record reports on Lightfoot’s hypocrisy in which the mayor and CPD blocked off the street she lives on last week so that “protesters” couldn’t come near her home.
When confronted by an officer as to their intentions for being out there, Schaffer and his limited crew clearly explained that they were just reporting on Lightfoot’s ban on protesters.
“You really can’t film out here,” the officer responded.
“On a public street? The press doesn’t have the freedom of speech or freedom of press to do so?” one of Schaffer’s crew asked the officer who appeared to shake his head in the negative.
Schaffer, claiming he and his crew know their rights and the laws, went ahead and conducted a report on the street to which officers called in more officers.
“It is interesting that protests are not exempted from other places or businesses that have seen looting and rioting over the last couple weeks and months,” Schaffer said.
The officer explained that the movement of Schaffer and his crew around the immediate area posed a threat to the mayor, even though they had broken no laws and were not being uncooperative.
The specific officer who spoke with Schaffer actually admitted that they are at that location to serve as “security” for the mayor.
Schaffer concluded his report by pointing out the even greater hypocrisy that Lightfoot displayed through her “security.”
“For a mayor that sides with Black Lives Matter, an organization that wants to defund the police, I just find it funny that she uses the Chicago police as her private security to not only kick out protesters but to kick out the press from actually trying to tell the true story of her hypocrisy and the hypocrisy in general of leaders that are failing our large cities,” Schaffer said.
For the full video, watch below: