Chicago's mayor said rioters 'shouldn't be demonized' and refused to give bad grades as a teacher

Chicago's 57th mayor was sworn in Monday after a disastrous four years of Lori Lightfoot - but questions remain as to the backstory behind the newly tapped head of The Windy City.

Brought up in a suburban home a stone's throw from the city's center, Brandon Johnson has surprised several by rising through its ranks to become its top official - campaigning on promises to build 'a better, stronger, safer Chicago'.

An ex-teacher who spent the past four years as a Cook County commissioner, the 47-year-old has instead aired his vision of a place where 'all residents can live and work free from the threat of violence,' but may lack the experience to make that happen.

By his own admission, while employed by Chicago's public school system, Johnson did not have the heart to give any of students a failing grade - and due to a self-professed disbelief in standardized exams, never offered test prep.

Last week, the new mayor - after making history as the first person to unseat a presiding mayor in the Dem-led city since 1983 - offered further insight as to his character, when he insisted the city should not 'demonize' teens for organizing an inner-city event that turned hopelessly violent and left multiple minors shot.

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Brandon Johnson, 57, is an ex-teacher who spent the past four years as a Cook County commissioner, and has instead aired his vision of a place where 'all residents can live and work free from the threat of violence,' However, he may lack the experience to make that happen

By his own admission in 2018, while employed by Chicago's public school system, Johnson did not have the heart to give any of students a failing grade - and due to a self-professed disbelief in standardized exams, never offered test prep

Perhaps most notably, though, is the political newcomer's past support for Defund the Police, a movement that - at least partially - played a part in his predecessor's failure to garner enough votes to keep her post.

At first, after emerging out of the gate as a relative unknown in a mass of competitive candidates, Johnson raised eyebrows with a lofty plan to reallocate law enforcement funds to other services in the wake of the 2020 murder of George Floyd.

Months before, Lightfoot performed an abrupt about-face on that policy amid increasing crime - after slashing the force's budget by $59million as one of her first moves as mayor.

The Lightfoot-led plan - ironically - was dubbed  'refund the police,' and saw the sum reabsorbed into the city's budget.

However, that course of actions has fallen flat in addressing the city's ongoing crime epidemic - a task that has emerged as one of the most pressing for Johnson as he plans his initial moves now that he is in office.  

To do this, he touted different, but still radical approach that includes reimagining the role of policing in Chicago, while taxing the rich and local businesses and diverting more investments toward social services such as housing and education.

Those promises apparent galvanized the city’s political left, and led him to an upset win over Lightfoot - whose repeated failures divided support from her own party - and  more moderate Chicago schools CEO Paul Vallas.

The labor-friendly approach harks back to his past as a public school employee and union organizer for the Chicago Teacher's Union.

AJohnson - a relative unknown in a heated mayoral race - has his hands full after being sworn in Monday, though how the political newcomer deals with issues such as crime and homelessness remains to be seen

The new mayor made history this month by becoming the first person to unseat a presiding mayor in Lightfoot in the Dem-led city since 1983, and last week offered insight as to his character when he insisted the city should not 'demonize' teens for organizing an event that turned hopelessly violent and left multiple minors shot

In an interview in 2018, Johnson - who currently resides with his wife and three kids in the city's notorious West Side - explained his approach to molding young minds.

I didn't offer any test prep,' he explained in a sit-down interview. 'Many of my other colleagues were doing it at the time; I was pushing our Administration to move away from that.'

After being further questioned about the public school system, Johnson eventually admitted his disdain for conventional practices outlined for him by the local government - including commonalities like homework and letter grades.

'To be quite frank with you,' Johnson said, 'I didn't issue a lot of homework for students - that was my own way of sort of rebelling against the structure.'

'I don't think I ever gave a kid an F,' he continued. 'I don't know how a student sits in front of you and then fails [a class].

The comments from the two-term Cook County commissioner came as he gradually climbed atop a crowded field with the support of the influential union he once worked for, with endorsements from Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren fueling his unlikely charge toward City Hall.

It saw him knock off the incumbent mayor in Lightfoot, and win a tough runoff in April in the process.

Afterwards, in the wake of the first round of weekend shootings under the new Mayor elect that have now become commonplace, Johnson showed more of his true colors when said the city should not demonize teens who organized a 'takeover' of the Loop East Washington Street, leaving multiple cars burned and two teens shot.

Witnesses at the event reported hearing a barrage gunshots, now a common sound in Chicago, with multiple rounds striking two teenage boys aged 16 and 17.

Both survived, and Johnson used the opportunity to decry local officials' treatment of its teen demographic, many of whom are caught up in gang and gun violence.

While he said he did not 'condone the destructive activity' and that it's 'unacceptable and has no place' in Chicago, Johnson declared it is not constructive to demonize youth who have otherwise been starved of opportunities in their own communities.'

Such progressive stances served to unite the disjointed left in the city turned off by the historically bad term wrought by Lightfoot.

The most recent crime figures show that in the year to date overall crime is up by 43 percent. While murder is down 14 percent in the year to date, it has increased by 11 percent since Mayor Lori Lightfoot took office in 2019

The mayoral race was dominated by questions of how to address crime, and Johnson argued that a policing-first approach has failed. Pictured, a crime scene from this weekend 

Johnson is also taking on a growing migrant crisis. Chicago is among the U.S. cities already struggling to provide shelter and other help to hundreds arriving from the border. Pictured, a migrant couple sit with their children on the playground at Brands Park in Chicago, Illinois

Only achieving a win by 26,000 votes,  Johnson has since tried to appeal to those who didn't back him in the election, stocking his transition team with familiar names from Chicago corporations and philanthropies beside leaders of organized labor and progressive groups. 

He also faces the looming decision of who to pick as his permanent police superintendent, as iut remains to be seen how exactly he will interact with the spread-thin department after it was neutered and subsequently revived last year.

For now, he selected a veteran of Chicago's emergency management agency as his chief of staff and a retired police commander who is popular among rank-and-file officers as interim leader of the Chicago Police Department.

There is little doubt that public safety will remain the city's top concern and Johnson's response will shape his relationship with business leaders, other elected officials, his base of progressive activists and residents of every Chicago neighborhood.