Cop on mayor's detail suspended after allegedly drinking at Trump inauguration celebration, showing up for work
On Jan. 20, Chicago police Officer Josue Najera celebrated President Donald Trump's second inauguration with family at the president's namesake tower on the Chicago River.
Najera — 44 years old and assigned to Mayor Brandon Johnson's security detail — was scheduled to work later that night, from 9 p.m. until 6 a.m. the following day.
But in the 5700 block of West Superior Street, where Johnson and his family live, Najera's sergeant held a roll call at the beginning of the shift. Something was off.
Records obtained by the Tribune show Najera allegedly was drunk when arrived for the shift at the mayor's home after leaving the inauguration celebration at Trump Tower.
A breathalyzer test administered that night revealed a .134 BAC, according to Chicago Police Department internal affairs records. A department supervisor confiscated Najera's gun and he was immediately stripped of his police powers. He was given a 25-day suspension which the department reported he has yet to serve.
A CPD officer since 2017, records show Najera was assigned to Johnson's detail in August 2023. Since he joined the department, Najera had no sustained misconduct complaints in his record prior to the January incident on the mayor's block.
He's also never been the subject of a Summary Punishment Action Request, an internal disciplinary mechanism for adjudicating more minor infractions.
A CPD spokesperson said Najera is currently assigned to the department's Alternate Response Section. Najera did not respond to a request for comment Monday.
Over the last 15 years, Trump and his acolytes have often used Chicago and the city's gun violence as political punching bags, garnering support among law enforcement officers and voters in the city's more conservative neighborhoods.
That has continued in Trump's second term. In March, Johnson was called to testify in front of Congress regarding the city's immigration enforcement policies. Gov. JB Pritzker is expected to do the same in June.
County property records show Najera, like scores of other CPD officers, owns a home on the Southwest Side not far from Midway Airport. Data from the city's Board of Elections show Najera's voting precinct supported Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris.
Following an inauguration day march through the Loop, protesters faced subzero temperatures and rallied near Trump Tower.
It's unclear where Najera celebrated, though the bar at the building advertised a viewing event from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. that day.
Around 7 p.m., records show, Najera's wife went to retrieve their vehicle. In the meantime, Najera asked a uniformed CPD officer to let him sit in a squad car, but that officer refused. Najera then called the department's 18th District (Near North) station to request a complaint be filed against the uniformed officer.
A supervisor in the 18th District contacted a sergeant in the detached services section, which oversees the mayor's detail. When Najera arrived on the mayor's block, he was confronted by the sergeant, records show.
'PO Najera was agitated, speaking loudly and avoiding eye contact while explaining the event,' the sergeant wrote. 'His behavior was very uncharacteristic and erratic from the normal behavior (the sergeant) knows PO Najera to display.'
'(The sergeant) asked PO Najera if he had been drinking while at the Trump Tower and he said he was having fun with his family,' an internal affairs report reads. '(The sergeant) again asked if PO Najera had anything to drink and PO Najera answered in the affirmative — Yes.'
At 9:30 p.m., Najera told the sergeant that he last had a drink three hours ago, records show. More CPD supervisors were then notified, Najera's gun was confiscated and he was taken to the 15th District (Austin) station for questioning.
At 11:46 p.m., Najera was given a breathalyzer test that revealed the .134 BAC, police records show. He was then stripped of his police powers, and the next day he turned in his ID, badge and hat shield.
Representatives for the Police Department and the mayor's office declined to comment on Najera's suspension.
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