Gov. JB Pritzker and greater than two dozen aldermen criticized Mayor Brandon Johnson for not absolutely vetting his alternative for varsity board president — citing the hand-picked candidate’s historical past of posting repeatedly about Israel’s yearlong offensive in Gaza.
The Rev. Mitchell “Ikenna” Johnson was appointed by the mayor to the varsity board’s high management function in spite of everything seven earlier members resigned earlier this month. However some state legislators and Metropolis Council members questioned that call and known as for his resignation due to dozens of anti-Israel posts he’d made, first reported by Jewish Insider.
“To the extent that somebody has been put up for a place, particularly one as vital as chair of the Chicago faculties, I feel vetting is vitally vital. That doesn’t appear to have occurred right here,” Pritzker mentioned when requested concerning the posts at a information convention within the Loop a few new state initiative, “Assist Cease Hate.”
The Rev. Johnson, who is not any relation to the mayor, has labored with the American Jewish Committee and the Simon Wiesenthal Middle. Following Hamas’ Oct. 7 assault, he began posting concerning the Israel-Hamas battle on Fb. He would usually submit a number of occasions a day, rising in frequency over the winter.
“My Jewish colleagues seem drunk with the Israeli energy and can stay to see their fee,” he wrote in a submit Dec. 19. “The Nazi Germans’ ideology has been adopted by Zionist Jews,” in one other dated Feb. 20. The handfuls of Fb posts by Rev. Johnson about Israel continued into the spring.
After the posts had been made publicly identified on social media, greater than 20 aldermen signed a letter asking for Johnson’s fast resignation, stating that his “continued function on the varsity board is non-negotiable.” They known as on each Rev. Johnson and the mayor to appropriate “this horrible mistake.”
“This case is a failure of management and judgment on the a part of Mayor Johnson and his government staff,” the letter reads. “Earlier this month, Mayor Johnson informed reporters his appointees can be totally vetted earlier than they had been sworn in. It’s clear that didn’t happen.”
The letter instantly addressed Rev. Johnson’s December Fb submit about being “drunk with Israeli energy.” That submit was unfairly “holding American Jews accountable for the actions of army midway internationally,” the letter states.
In a press release to the Tribune Wednesday, the Rev. Johnson mentioned he has labored “hand in hand” with the Jewish group in Chicago to battle antisemitism.
“I’m deeply sorry for not being extra exact and deliberate in my feedback posted final 12 months,” he mentioned. “Since that point I requested for and acquired suggestions from my Jewish associates and colleagues who helped me be extra considerate in how I handle these delicate issues.”
Ald. Debra Silverstein, fiftieth, the council’s lone Jewish member, mentioned “(her) group is simply actually upset.” She introduced up a Saturday capturing in West Rogers Park, noting that the capturing sufferer attended her synagogue. Silverstein mentioned the capturing “didn’t get the right consideration from Metropolis Corridor.”
“I don’t really feel that this administration has the Jewish group’s again, and I don’t know the way the vetting course of let this particular person get by onto our college board,” mentioned Silverstein. “I’m so frightened about our Jewish college students in CPS and their safety. To have someone on the varsity board that has tweeted out antisemitic anti-Zionist tweets is appalling to me.”
Responding to Rev. Johnson’s posts Wednesday, Mayor Johnson mentioned the board president has since apologized for the feedback made and the way “dangerous they’ve been to individuals of the Jewish group.”
“I do know he’s going to … sit down with Jewish leaders within the metropolis of Chicago and past to start to work towards restoration and therapeutic,” Johnson mentioned. “These should not sentiments that I subscribe to, and I do recognize Reverend Johnson being keen to be held accountable for statements that he has made that (have) brought about hurt.
The mayor mentioned Rev. Johnson’s feedback “under no circumstances replicate … his dedication to make sure that each single little one in our public faculty system is seen and heard.”
Aldermen have lengthy been divided on the battle in Gaza. Metropolis Council narrowly handed a decision final 12 months calling for a everlasting cease-fire in Gaza, after Mayor Johnson forged a tie-breaking vote. It made Chicago the most important American metropolis to name for a cease-fire between Hamas and Israel.
Mayor Johnson, a former instructor and CTU organizer, additionally might need had a hand within the resignations of the earlier faculty board after unsuccessfully pressuring Chicago Public Colleges CEO Pedro Martinez to take out a controversial mortgage after which threatening to oust him.
Ten members of the Board of Schooling will likely be elected in November, and Mayor Johnson will appoint 11 subsequent 12 months to hitch them. If the mayor chooses to nominate the Rev. Johnson, he can keep on as president. This worries some lawmakers.
Democrat state Rep. Sara Feigenholtz mentioned in a submit on X, previously often called Twitter, Tuesday evening she was “shocked and appalled that the Mayor wouldn’t vet somebody earlier than he appointed them.” She requested for the mayor to name for the varsity board president’s resignation. In any other case, she threatened state intervention.
Final week, NBC reported that the newly appointed president had been disbarred from his job as a lawyer in Ohio and a lien had been positioned on his dwelling as a result of not paying little one assist.
When requested whether or not the accusations had been correct, Rev. Johnson responded final Friday that he was “urged for this place due to (his) management capability and skill to get issues completed.”
“That’s the reality,” Rev. Johnson mentioned. “The excellent news is, I wasn’t employed to be an accountant, and I wasn’t employed to be a lawyer.”
One of many seven appointed faculty board members, Debby Pope, who just lately went non-public on X, had additionally reposted a number of pro-Palestinian and anti-Zionist tweets.
The varsity board, which Rev. Johnson presently heads, will doubtless resolve the destiny of Martinez and the controversial $300 million high-interest mortgage sought by the mayor to assist fund a brand new CTU contract and stability the district’s price range.
The following Board of Schooling assembly is scheduled for Friday.
Chicago Tribune’s Alice Yin and Jake Sheridan contributed.
