Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara claimed decision made if ‘verdict doesn’t go positive’
The Chicago Police Department has canceled one regular day off this weekend for all full-duty officers to “enhance public safety,” a decision reportedly made to brace for possible upheaval ahead of a potential verdict in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse in Wisconsin.
“To enhance public safety and to address current crime patterns, all full-duty sworn members will have one regular day off canceled this upcoming weekend between November 12, 2021 through November 14, 2021,” the Chicago Police Department told Fox News in an emailed statement.
The statement to Fox News did not provide specific reasons for the canceled days off.
While the department didn’t provide an answer when asked if a potential verdict in the Rittenhouse trial factored into its decision, local reports said that Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara claimed otherwise.
Catanzara posted a video to YouTube accusing the city of violating an agreement in which it must provide advanced notice before the regularly scheduled days off were canceled, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
“There was no notice,” Catanzara said in the video. “They do not get to just keep saying, ‘We need manpower just in case a verdict doesn’t go positive’ and, all the sudden, there’s upheaval.”
“That’s not the way this department needs to be [run],” Catanzara continued. “But that’s what happens when you put a hat in charge of doing the mayor’s bidding in the second spot. And you know who I’m talking about. It just doesn’t stop with this guy. He is such a pathetic leader. I don’t even know how he looks himself in the mirror.”
Catanzara was referring to First Deputy Police Supt. Eric Carter, according to the paper.
The Rittenhouse trial was set to continue Thursday.
Rittenhouse faces a slew of charges including two counts of homicide for shooting Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, with an AR-15 during the August 2020 protests and riots that erupted after police shot Jacob Blake, a Black man, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. The third person Rittenhouse shot, Gaige Grosskreutz, survived and testified Monday.
Rittenhouse was also charged with possessing a weapon by a person under 18, and multiple counts of reckless endangerment.
