A Chicago cop will keep his job but has been suspended for 120 days after his links to the Proud Boys far right group were exposed. An investigation into Officer Robert Bakker was sparked in 2020 after Vice published Telegram chat logs of Bakker communicating with and organizing meetings for Proud Boys members. Bakker previously told the Chicago Sun-Times he was never a member of the Proud Boys but didn’t deny that he communicated via a Proud Boys Telegram channel. Under a mediation agreement, Bakker agreed not to contest the allegations against him, according to the Office of the Inspector General’s most recent quarterly report. The department’s Bureau of Internal Affairs previously found that Bakker failed to submit a written report explaining he was under FBI investigation. The Inspector General’s office urged police to consider whether Bakker broke departmental rules by lying.
