Pericles Abassi
# Pericles Abassi

Pericles "Perry" Abbasi is an American lawyer and online personality.

## Early life

Abassi 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. He was awarded the prestigious Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship. He met Kanye West in 2003 while filming a local hip-hop show. He also competed in national quiz bowl competitions.

## Career

### Work as a lawyer

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.

Abassi 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 amount of signatures and did not qualify for the presidential ballot.

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 eight of their candidates.

### Run for office and controversy

Abbasi ran for office in 2023, looking to secure one of three seats representing the newly-formed Grand Central (25th) Police District Council.

   | Pericles 'Perry' Abbasi | Twitter |
   | @ElectionLegal |
   Vote Perry Abbasi for 25th District Police Council. Punch 74.
   February 20, 2023

During his campaign, he was attacked in the press for his long history of irreverent posts on social media. An article in the Chicago Reader claimed the social media posts were racist and misogynistic and sought to drive a wedge between Abassi and his former clients. Blogger Malcom Kyeyune claimed in an opinion column 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" and also pointed out that "his tweets have little grounding in reality."

Abassi responded to the accusations, explaining that his social media posts were in jest only and not to be hyper analyzed as fact. Abassi secured the endorsement of celebrity podcaster Dasha Nekrasova before failing to gain the required amount of votes on election day, February 28, 2023.

## Personal life

Abassi's Chicago-area home was ransacked after the 2018 Christmas holiday. He announced his engagement (to a woman) in 2022.

