Nowacki was listed as a member of the Oath Keepers, an anti-government extremist group that played a key role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. He has a series of complaints against him, including excessive use of force, personnel violations, and allegations of misconduct, such as making racist remarks to South Side activists that stem from 2007 which he was minimally scolded for, records show.

In 2020, Nowacki was reprimanded for making a series of Facebook posts during the pandemic that criticized the police command staff, mocked an online dashboard that tracks public sentiment toward the department and showed him wearing a cloth mask, according to the Sun-Times and WBEZ investigation.

The Sun-Times reported last month the officer and eight others with ties to the Oath Keepers will avoid punishment. Neighbors and activists have repeatedly called for Nowacki to be fired.

Linas told the crowd she wasn’t aware of the allegations or the investigation into the officer until it was brought up at the meeting. She said some of the officer’s social media posts were concerning, but the process of firing an officer is overseen by the department’s Bureau of Internal Affairs, the Civilian Office of Police Accountability and the Chicago Police Board.