John Catanzara, who has taken the charge as head of police unit in Chicago just a month ago, has warned officers not to kneel with the demonstrators in #BlackLivesMatter protests or they will be kicked out of the union.
The statement came following cops kneeling with activists in various BLM marches on account of demonstrators’ requests throughout the country which, according to the chief, is not compatible with the department’s policies.
He described the uniform officers doing the action as ‘ridiculous’ as the demonstrators have been demanding defunding and scrapping of the entire police department. He questions the officers as ‘are you going to take a knee for that?’.
Previously, one NYPD lieutenant had issued an apology letter to his rank for taking a knee with the demonstrators as he said he was pushed to the center of the crowd and everyone started chanting for it. He believes he made ‘a horrible mistake’ but he was not sure how the crowd would have reacted if he had not submitted also, he wanted to limit the risk of any kind of violence.
Moreover, the cops who are already kicked out from union in the Second City will remain on the same jobs, however, their contractual benefits are now at risk.
Catanzara’s comments came public after he spoke with a Fox32 Chicago reporter. He believes this is not the right time to show solidarity with the marchers who are protesting to demand justice for George Floyd, a 46-years old Black man who died in police custody.
This tragic occurrence elicited rallies and marches in almost all the big cities of the country with people swarming up against police brutality claiming reforms.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot criticized the chief’s comments as a reporter asked her about it and she stated she does not want to dignify his comments with an answer. She said we should not credit such kinds of comments and just ignore them.