By Brad Edwards, Carol Thompson, Samah Assad, Chris Hacker
CHICAGO (CBS) – A Chicago Police officer who nearly four years ago bragged on camera about killing someone while taunting an innocent Black man in a park has now been relieved of his police powers.
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The CBS 2 Investigators have learned that move came not because of the 2018 viral video incident, but because of a complaint that has just now surfaced.
Officer James Hunt is seen and heard in a viral video bragging on camera, “I kill mother******” during an obscenity-laden rant. It happened on July 3, 2018. CBS 2 was the first to expose Hunt’s entire interaction with Kenneth Lee that day. Lee was an innocent passerby to a police call to which Hunt responded.
“That’s when he said, ‘I have a Snapchat too,’” Lee said. “I said, ‘No, you don’t’. He said, “Yeah, I do, it’s called I f***** your mama.”
That day, according to a Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) summary report, after taunting Lee in the park, Hunt falsely arrested him too. Lee eventually won a $100,000 settlement from the city.
Hunt’s troubling track record includes 24 complaints made by civilians between July 2014 and March 2020, according to COPA records. He also self-reported using force against civilians 28 times between 2016 and 2020. During that period, he had the fifth most reports, along with three other officers, according to CPD data analyzed by CBS 2. CPD has more than 12,000 officers on its force.
The CBS 2 Investigators just discovered a new complaint filed against Hunt – the one that led to his new desk duty assignment.
It was filed in 2020 – the same week that a Minneapolis cop murdered George Floyd and protests were held all across the country, and in Chicago.
In the complaint, the woman said she got caught up in a “large crowd” while “driving downtown” on May 30, 2020. She said, “there was a lot of commotion” and she tried “to get away from the area.” That’s when she saw “officers approaching her car.” She said one of them “broke her back passenger side window” and there was “glass flying everywhere in her car.” As she got out of her car, she said that same officer “began wrestling with her for her phone.” She was recording the entire incident.
She said she needed “medical attention three times” and “was ignored” before going “completely numb.” She ended up on the ground. She accused one of the officers of lifting her up by her head.” She said she was called names such as “Fat” and “B****” by one of the officers.
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Sources confirmed to CBS 2 that Hunt is the officer she accuses of breaking her window, lifting her up by her head and calling her names.
COPA has already completed its investigation into the May 30, 2020, incident and sent it on to CPD for review. That was in December.
But just this week, the CBS 2 Investigators learned Hunt was up for a new assignment. He was to report for training to become a Field Training Officer on Feb. 8. The day before his training was to start, Hunt was suddenly stripped of his police powers and reassigned to work in the Evidence and Recovered Property Section.
CPD’s Field Training Officer application indicates a Field Training Officer’s duties are to “instruct probationary police officers in the following law enforcement subject areas:” which include “ethics”, “community engagement”, “arrest procedures”, “use of force”, and “verbal communication” among other things.
Hunt had to apply for the career move in November 2021, pass a test held in December, and then be selected for the training.
The application directive indicates that candidates would be ineligible to become a Field Training Officer if:
- They had sustained complaint investigations for misconduct that resulted in suspensions of more than 7 days during the previous 12 months, or
- They had three or more sustained complaint investigations resulting in any suspensions in the past five years.
Hunt did not meet the criteria for ineligibility because he has not served any suspensions recently. COPA recommended a 365-day suspension for the Kenneth Lee park incident, but that was back in 2019. Hunt filed a grievance and is still currently fighting that recommended disciplinary action through arbitration. He has yet to serve any of that suspension. A ruling from the arbitration hearing is expected soon.
John Catanzara, the President of Chicago’s police union, told CBS 2 “it’s despicable” that CPD stripped Hunt of his police powers the day before the training was to start. Catanzara said the only reason CPD made that move was to prevent Hunt’s promotion and called police administration “vindictive.”
Last year, CPD Supt. David Brown removed Hunt from the city’s new Community Safety Team after the CBS 2 Investigators brought Hunt’s history of bad behavior to his attention. The Community Safety Team was formed in July 2020 to combat a rise in violent crime that started during the pandemic and to build trust with the community.
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As for COPA’s recommendations for discipline for the new 2020 misconduct complaint? CPD command has had the final report for two months. The status is still pending review.
