Chicago police have cleared two officers of wrongdoing over allegations leveled by U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush that he had been racially profiled during a traffic stop last summer on the South Side, a police spokesman said Thursday.
Chief spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the department’s Bureau of Internal Affairs found that the two Wentworth District officers acted properly because they had probable cause to make the stop. Earlier that day, officers at roll call had been told to be on the lookout for high-end vehicles because of a rash of thefts throughout the South Side.
The officers stopped Rush, who is black, in his Lexus RX458 after learning from a police dispatcher that its license plate was registered to a different vehicle, according to Guglielmi.
The approximately 7 1/2-minute video — obtained by the Chicago Tribune through a Freedom of Information Act request — shows that throughout the stop, the officer and Rush spoke to each other in calm tones. However, at about six minutes into the video, Rush challenges the validity of the stop.
He asked for the officer’s name and star number, saying, "This is my district, and I have never been so embarrassed and humiliated."
"Well, you shouldn’t be embarrassed, I mean, we’re …" a female officer said in a reassuring tone.
"Don’t tell me what I should be," Rush responded without raising his voice. "I am what I am. What’s your name?"
The stop took place shortly before 3 p.m. on Aug. 4 in the 4700 block of South King Drive.
Rush filed a complaint against the officers the same day, alleging he had been pulled over without legal justification because of the color of his skin. The female officer is Hispanic, and her partner is white.
U.S. Rep. Rush complains of racial profiling by Chicago police, sources say Jeremy Gorner and Katherine Skiba
U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush has filed a complaint saying he was racially profiled by Chicago police after two officers pulled him over while driving on the South Side in August, according to police sources and city records.
According to the sources, the Wentworth District officers were running plates…
U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush has filed a complaint saying he was racially profiled by Chicago police after two officers pulled him over while driving on the South Side in August, according to police sources and city records.
According to the sources, the Wentworth District officers were running plates…
(Jeremy Gorner and Katherine Skiba)
Guglielmi said internal affairs investigators recently closed the case with a ruling of "unfounded."
"The video footage from this traffic stop provides a firsthand look into the professional actions of Chicago police officers that occur throughout the city every day," Guglielmi said. "It also displays the value of body-worn camera technology that allows us to ensure investigations are guided by the facts, provide officers due process, and protect the civil rights of every Chicagoan."
A spokeswoman for Rush’s office did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
Rush’s maroon Lexus SUV has an Illinois license plate "1" with the words "U.S. Congressman" displayed in smaller letters.
But another "1" vanity plate is registered to a Cadillac owned by a man who lives on the Near North Side, according to Illinois secretary of state records.
Guglielmi couldn’t say if the police dispatcher mixed up the two "1" plates, leading the officers to think Rush’s Lexus had the wrong plate displayed.
"Pulling you over because your plates aren’t matching the car," the female officer told Rush after she walked up to his driver’s side window, according to the video from her body camera.
"How are my plates not matching the car?" Rush asked.
"Your plate is coming back to a Cadillac," the officer replied.
"I never owned a Cadillac," Rush told her in an incredulous tone.
"OK," she said.
"My name is Congressman, U.S. Congressman Bobby Rush. And this is a government-leased vehicle," he told her.
The officer then asked for Rush’s registration for the SUV. Instead, he handed over his insurance card. But the officer pointed out the card had expired. Rush then gave her his driver’s license.
Rush announced he had more identification in the glove compartment and reached over to retrieve it. The male officer can be seen looking on from the passenger side of the Lexus. At about the same time, the female officer let Rush know he was being audio- and video-recorded.
"All right, you keep looking for it," the female officer said to Rush. "We’re going to go ahead and run you and make sure. We’ll see what’s going on with these plates, OK? You can just stay in the car for us. Thank you."
The officers then walked back to their police SUV.
"Um, that’s Bobby Rush," the female officer told her partner, sounding a bit surprised.
"Oh, nice," the male officer replied.
"Is this an RX458?" the female officer asked. "He’s got insurance for it. It’s expired. But …"
Her partner then talked to a police dispatcher, passing on some of the information Rush had handed over. In addition to the police radio, the song "Ride" from the musical duo Twenty One Pilots can be heard playing in the police SUV.
"What? He lives over here?" the male officer asked curiously.
"I guess so," the female officer replied.
The officers then exited their SUV and walked back over to Rush. The female officer again approached him on the driver’s side of the Lexus.
"Here you go, sir," she said, handing Rush his driver’s license and insurance card. "I don’t know why (the plates are) coming back to it. You said you used to have a Cadillac?"
"No, I never had a Cadillac," Rush replied.
He then spoke to the officer in an irritable tone, expressing his frustration about getting pulled over.
"I am a sitting member of Congress," he told her. "I have been driving in this vehicle here for years. Just, those are U.S. Capitol plates, all right?"
"I understand that," the officer replied.
Rush then told the officer how "embarrassed and humiliated" he was because of the stop.
"I’m pulled over by Chicago Police Department, all right?" he said. "And I’ve been a member of the City Council for nine years and a congressman for almost 30 years. … I’ve never been so embarrassed in my life."
Rush asked for the officer’s name and star number. She gave him that information and also said she was assigned to the Wentworth patrol district, which covers the Bronzeville, Hyde Park and Washington Park neighborhoods on the South Side.
Rush, 70, was let go without a ticket being issued. About an hour later, he filed a complaint about the alleged racial profiling with the Independent Police Review Authority, the city agency that investigates more serious allegations of police misconduct, according to city records obtained by the Tribune.
An IPRA supervisor reviewed the complaint the following day, and on Aug. 8, the matter was transferred to the Police Department’s internal affairs bureau, the records show.
The onetime co-founder of the Illinois Black Panther Party has been in Congress since 1993, representing parts of the South Side and Cook and Will counties. He was a Chicago alderman for a decade before that. He lost a race for Chicago mayor in 1999.
An ordained Baptist minister, Rush handily defeated Barack Obama in a primary challenge for the congressional seat in 2000, the former president’s only electoral loss.
jgorner@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @JeremyGorner
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