CAIR-Chicago Slams Dangerous Misinformation Campaign Targeting Chicago Leaders — CAIR-Chicago
Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th) during a City Council meeting on April 16, 2025.Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
CHICAGO, IL, 5/23/2025) — The Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Chicago), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, strongly condemns the dangerous misinformation campaign falsely linking Ald. Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez (33rd), Ald. Byron Sigcho Lopez (25th), Mayor Brandon Johnson, and Rep. Delia Ramirez (IL-03) to the suspect in a recent Washington, DC shooting. It also demands an end to duplicitous tactics employed by the ADL (see addendum under press release).
This smear campaign was led in part by Ald. Ray Lopez and former Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Iris Martinez, who shared misleading social media posts attempting to connect these progressive, anti-genocide leaders to the DC shooting suspect.
As reported by Block Club Chicago, Ald. Lopez circulated a photo from a 2018 United Working Families (UWF) candidate training event. The photo showed Alderman Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez, Alderman Byron Sigcho Lopez, Mayor Brandon Johnson, and Representative Delia Ramirez with red circles and connecting lines drawn to Chris Poulos, Rodriguez-Sanchez’s former campaign manager and chief of staff. Those spreading the image falsely claimed Poulos was the alleged shooter, Elias Rodriguez. Separately, Iris Martinez shared a Facebook post inaccurately stating the suspect displayed a Rodriguez-Sanchez campaign sign in his apartment window and demanded her resignation.
Alderwoman Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez said:
“I think that is really irresponsible. This can cause a lot of harm, and this can put people in harm’s way. I think that it’s important that people consider those things before spreading misinformation to social media.”
Despite clear reporting exposing the falsehoods, those behind the posts left them online for hours, further amplifying the harm.
CAIR-Chicago also slammed the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) attempt to link the aforementioned leaders, peaceful student protesters, and other anti-genocide voices to the DC shooting as “shameful and deceptive.”
CAIR-Chicago stands in full solidarity with Alds. Rodriguez-Sanchez and Sigcho-Lopez, Mayor Johnson, Rep. Ramirez, and all advocates speaking truth in the face of injustice and the dehumanization of the Palestinian people.
We reject the dangerous weaponization of antisemitism accusations aimed at silencing legitimate criticism of Israeli state violence and U.S.-backed atrocities. Such bad-faith attacks not only chill free speech but also endanger the lives and reputations of community leaders who dare to speak truth to power.
“These are leaders who have bravely stood up against genocide and forced starvation of children,” said Ahmed Rehab. “To intentionally conflate their human rights advocacy with antisemitism is reprehensible. It puts a target on their backs — and on ours.”
Read CAIR-Chicago’s response to the DC shooting, here.
Watch Executive Director, Ahmed Rehab, call out media bias and the pro-genocide lobby’s selective outrage on FOX, here.
CAIR-Chicago’s mission is to defend civil rights, fight bigotry, and promote tolerance.
CONTACT: Ahmed Rehab, Executive Director, CAIR-Chicago, 202-870-0166, [email protected] | Hafsa Haider, Communications Coordinator, CAIR-Chicago, 561-317-7509, [email protected]
