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Pericles Abbasi | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1984 (age 39–40) Aurora, Illinois, U.S. |
| Other names | Perry Abbasi |
| Education | |
| Occupation | Lawyer |
Pericles "Perry" Abbasi is an American lawyer and online personality.
Pericles Abbasi was born in Aurora, Illinois to a Pakistani father and a Greek mother. Pericles' father was a Muslim from Azad Jammu and Kashmir and belonged to the Dhund Abbasi caste. [1]
Abbasi attended the University of Chicago, earning his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees before moving on to Kent College of Law for a Juris Doctor degree. [2] At the University of Chicago, Abbasi was awarded the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship. He also filmed a local hip-hop show and competed in national quiz bowl competitions. [2]
After graduating and passing the bar exam, Abbasi worked as an elections attorney and won cases before the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, the Supreme Court of Illinois, the Illinois Appellate Court and various electoral boards. His legal practice also focused on zoning, property tax appeals and real estate closings.
Abbasi led a challenge to the signatures collected by the Kanye West 2020 presidential campaign in Illinois. Upon review, the Illinois State Board of Elections determined that the West campaign did not have the required minimum amount of signatures and did not qualify for the presidential ballot. [3]
In 2023, the City of Chicago held elections for 22 newly created police district councils, one for each of the city's police districts. Abbasi supported the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police in these elections, legally representing several of their preferred candidates. [4] [5]
Between 2020 and 2023, Abbasi posted prolifically on Twitter, averaging roughly 70 tweets per day. He went from under a thousand followers in 2020 to 24,000 in January 2023. His posts were described by Malcom Kyeyune as often "bizarre and unseemly" and as having "little grounding in reality". [6] Abbasi described one ongoing Twitter gag where he posed as an "alpha male" who was also a "closeted homosexual." [7]
Abbasi ran for office in 2023, looking to secure one of three seats representing the newly formed Grand Central (25th) Police District Council.
During his campaign, an article in the Chicago Reader highlighted Abbasi's social media posts, which they described as containing "racist and misogynist" content. This included one tweet in which Abbasi referenced a criminal stereotype of African Americans, writing, "I've said in spaces that the horrible black american diet is the reason for 13/50!" [7] Writing for UnHerd, blogger Malcom Kyeyune wrote that Abbasi is "so irony-poisoned from years of hard posting that the pain of drowning will be nothing short of sweet relief from his need to respond to likes and notifications". [6] In response to the reporting on his social media history, the Chicago West Side chapter of the NAACP called for Abbasi to be disbarred. [8]
Abbasi came in fifth out of five candidates, securing less than nine percent of the vote.
Abbasi's Chicago-area home was ransacked after the 2018 Christmas holiday. [9] As of 2023, Abbasi was engaged to a woman. [6]
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At the hearing, Abbasi said he was representing eight people in district council races. State records show he received a $10,000 payment from the police union in early December. Abbasi is also running as a candidate in the 25th police district in Grand Central on the northwest side and said the union helped him collect signatures to get on the ballot.