Chicago Cops Snub Lori Lightfoot, Turn Their Backs To Mayor At Hospital: “The police officers’ decision to turn their backs on the mayor while waiting with the family on the 7th floor was significant”
More than two dozen Chicago police officers turned their backs on Lori Lightfoot when the Chicago Mayor wanted to speak to them at the hospital where an officer remains in critical condition after a shooting during a traffic stop. Another officer died in the shooting.
“The police officers’ decision to turn their backs on the mayor while waiting with the family on the 7th floor was significant,” FOP President John Catanzara said. “Turning their backs on the mayor was an excellent example of how the hundreds of police officers felt waiting outside the hospital.”
“They have had enough and are no longer going to remain silent anymore,” Catanzara said.
The mayor’s office provided gave a statement to Fox News that said: “In a time of tragedy, emotions run high and that is to be expected.
“The Mayor spoke to a range of officers that tragic night and sensed the overwhelming sentiment was about concern for their fallen colleagues.
“As the Mayor stated yesterday, now is not the time for divisive and toxic rhetoric or reporting. This is a time for us to come together as a city. We have a common enemy and it is the conditions that breed the violence and the manifestations of violence, namely illegal guns, and gangs.
“The Mayor is focused on healing the wounds and will reject any and all that try to use this moment to drive further divisions in our city.”
Mayor Lori Lightfoot was given the cold shoulder by CPD rank and file about midnight Saturday at the University of Chicago Medical Center when she approached them on the 7th floor as they grappled with the shootings of two fellow officers.
Chicago Police Officer Ella French was shot and killed during a traffic stop Saturday night in West Englewood, while her partner continues to fight for his life at the hospital. Three people are in custody.
Just moments before about 30 officers turned their backs on the mayor, Lightfoot tried to talk to the male officer’s father, who himself is a retired Chicago police officer.
He clearly wanted nothing to do with Lightfoot, according to two sources who were there.
The father excoriated the mayor and blamed her for what had happened. One source said Lightfoot handled herself well as the father yelled at her.
She listened and treated him with respect.
It was then suggested that Lightfoot say a few words to nearby grieving officers, but as she approached, “they did the about-face — it looked like it had been choreographed,” said one of the sources present, calling it “astounding.”
Lightfoot then went downstairs to speak to reporters at a news conference about the shooting.
“The police officers’ decision to turn their backs on [@chicagosmayor] while waiting with the family on the 7th floor was significant,” @FOP7Chicago President John Catanzara told [@Sneedlings] in an interview.
— Fraternal Order of Police – Chicago Lodge #7 (@FOP7Chicago) August 9, 2021
Read the entire @Suntimes story below ⬇️:https://t.co/ojuTA7iSyT
Chicago cops turn their backs on Mayor Lori Lightfoot as she is blamed for the shooting that killed female cop https://t.co/hHKpTaHNvi
— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) August 9, 2021