The Civil Rights Department of the Ministry of Justice said on Monday that it opens an investigation into the city of Chicago after Mayor Brandon Johnson's comments on Sunday to highlight prominent black officials in his administration.
In a letter to Johnson, the assistant public prosecutor Harit Delon wrote in a letter to Johnson published on X as “authorizing an investigation” whether Chicago “was involved in a pattern or practice of discrimination” after Johnson's comments on Sunday's church.
“If this type of employment decisions are taken at the highest level positions in your administration, this raises the issue of whether these decisions are also taken to the lower level sites,” Delon wrote.
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Johnson said in statements in the Apostolic Church that the mayor, head of the operations department, the director of budget and other blacks. Johnson said that some of his critics criticize him by saying that the only thing he is talking about “is the employment of blacks.”
“No, what I say is when you employ our people, we are always looking for anyone else,” he said.
He added: “The presence of people in my administration will search for everyone's attention, and everyone means that you have to search for the interests of black people, because this did not happen. This is how we guarantee sustainable long -term growth.”
Johnson also criticized the Trump administration's efforts to “erase us from history”.
“The black people here will be in this city and in cities throughout America, protecting this democracy, and protecting humanity, because this is what blacks have always done,” he said.
The mayor's office said in a statement that Johnson “is proud to have the most diverse management in the history of our city.”
“Our administration reflects the diversity and values ​​of Chicago. Unfortunately, the current federal administration also does not reflect,” the mayor's press office said.
Soon after his second inauguration, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to end what he pointed out as diversity and programs for shares, shares and “radical and wasted” in federal agencies. He also ordered investigations into employment practices that he said preferred the candidates based on their race or gender.
According to the mayor's office, white and black employees are the majority of employees, with 30.5 % of employees determining that they are white and 34.3 % of black.
Johnson's office said that he was aware that the Ministry of Justice had issued a letter and that it was waiting for the official receipt and that the company's lawyer would review it.
The Civil Rights Division has witnessed a major shift since Dhillon took over during the second period of Trump, as one of the officials called for the attack on the departures “a full bloodbath.”
On a broader scale, the Ministry of Justice has targeted Trump's political opponents, who have imagined since his return to his post for a second term. In January, the Ministry of Justice said it had ended many lawyers from the office of former Special Adviser Jack Smith, who played roles in Trump's prosecution over his dealings with classified documents and his behavior associated with January 6, 2021, Capitol Rett.
Trump issued executive orders to chase the major law firms that participated in his prosecution or administration. He also authorized the Public Prosecutor Pam Bondi to recommend that security permits be canceled in lawyers or to terminate federal contracts with law firms if they find lawsuits against administration “unreasonable” or “disturbing”.
