The Department of Justice has opened a civil rights investigation into the City of Chicago following Mayor Brandon Johnson’s remarks where he bragged about he number of black employees he has hired.

On Monday, the DOJ sent a letter to Johnson informing him of the probe, which will examine whether the city has violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The law prohibits employment discrimination based on race, and Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon told Johnson the investigation is “based on information suggesting that you have made hiring decisions solely on the basis of race.”

The announcement came just one day after Johnson spoke at the Apostolic Church of God in the Woodlawn neighborhood, where he discussed his administration’s diversity and proudly referenced hiring “our people.”

“When we say ‘our people hire our people,’ I just want to name this,” Johnson said, noting that the percentage of white employees in the mayor’s office has declined and calling it “the most diverse administration in the history of Chicago.” According to figures released by his office, the racial composition of mayoral staff is 34.3 percent black, 30.5 percent white, 23.8 percent Hispanic, and 6.7 percent Asian.

Johnson went further, defending his focus on placing black individuals in leadership roles.

“There are some detractors that will push back on me and say, ‘The only thing that mayor, the mayor, talks about is the hiring of black people.’ No, what I’m saying is, when you hire our people, we always look out for everybody else,” he said. “We are the most generous people on the planet. I don’t know too many cultures that have play cousins. That’s how generous we are. We just make somebody a family member, right. That’s just how we are.” 

The mayor also detailed several top-level appointments in his administration, emphasizing their race: “Business and economic neighborhood development, the deputy mayor is a black woman. The Department of Planning and Development is a black woman. Infrastructure deputy mayor is a black woman. Chief operations officer is a black man. Budget director is a black woman. Senior advisor is a black man.”

“I’m laying that out because when you ask, how do we ensure that our people get a chance to grow their business? Having people in my administration that will look out for the interest of everyone — and everyone means you have to look out for the interest of black folks, because that hasn’t happened,” Johnson added.

Dhillon said Johnson’s comments raised serious concerns about whether the city of Chicago is engaging in systemic race-based hiring. 

“Considering these remarks, I have authorized an investigation to determine whether the City of Chicago is engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination as set forth above,” Dhillon said, according to the Associated Press. “If these kind of hiring decisions are being made for top-level positions in your administration, then it begs the question whether such decisions are also being made for lower-level positions.”