A Chicago police officer who was convicted for his role in the riot at the U.S. Capitol has been fired after taking a lengthy leave of absence that violated city rules, the Sun-Times has learned.
Karol Chwiesiuk spent roughly 10 minutes inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as a mob attempted to prevent Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s electoral victory. Chwiesiuk was ultimately sentenced to three months of home detention in January.
However, his dismissal from the police department is only tangentially related to his case in federal court. A police spokesperson said he was “terminated for a break in service, in violation of the city’s personnel rules.”
Chwiesiuk initially told the department he was taking a personal leave of absence in August 2021, less than two months after he was charged. At the time, he told a supervisor he was stepping aside “due to a temporary order by a federal court requiring myself from not possessing any firearms as a condition of bond.”
The leave was extended at least three times and stretched until Aug. 10, 2022, records show. A final extension was denied a week earlier, and he was told to either return to work or resign.
Later that month, a sergeant told Internal Affairs Chief Yolanda Talley investigators were seeking to fire Chwiesiuk for violating the leave of absence policy, record show.
He won’t face the typical police disciplinary process because the violation relates to a city policy that prohibits employees from taking a personal leave of absence longer than a year.
Chwiesiuk’s termination was finalized in February “but backdated to August 2022 when he was in violation of the break in service,” the police spokesperson said.
Chwiesiuk’s attorney, Nishay Sanan, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Records of a larger pattern
His case made national news and drew the ire of then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who called the allegations against Chwiesiuk a “total disgrace.”
“This isn’t about one police officer charged with a heinous assault on our democracy,” she said. It’s about sending a “clear and unequivocal message” that “we will have no tolerance for hate.”
Former Police Supt. David Brown echoed Lightfoot but later offered leniency to cops linked to far-right groups at the center of the insurrection.
“If you harbor such ignorance, you should take off your star now and find another line of work. Or I will do it for you,” Brown said after Chwiesiuk’s initial court appearance.
Chwiesiuk traveled to Washington, D.C., with his sister Agnieszka, who was tried alongside him. The two entered the Capitol after a large crowd marched from a nearby Trump rally, clashed with police and forced their way inside the building.
Chwiesiuk was seen wearing a CPD sweatshirt and shared photos of himself inside the office of U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore. In text messages, he used a racial slur for African Americans and bragged he had “knocked out a commie” during his trip, prosecutors said.
Federal prosecutors insisted Chwiesiuk disregarded his oath as a “public servant of the City of Chicago” when he later gave false testimony at trial.
In August 2023, he and his sister were convicted of misdemeanor counts of entering and remaining in a restricted building; disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.
In addition to home detention, they were given three years of probation and ordered to perform 200 hours of community service and pay $500 in restitution.
They are among the 49 people from Illinois who have been charged in the Capitol riot.
Contributing: Jon Seidel
