A group of nearly 30 Chicago police officers turned their backs on Mayor Lori Lightfoot as she approached them at a vigil after two cops were shot- one fatally.
A somber picture shows the moment a group of nearly 30 Chicago police officers turned their backs on Mayor Lori Lightfoot as she visited a hospital after two officers were shot, including one fatally.
Chicago Police Officer Ella French, 29, was shot and killed during a traffic stop Saturday night, while her male partner continues to fight for his life at the University of Chicago Medical Center.
When Lightfoot tried to talk with the injured officer’s father, a former Chicago cop, he blasted the mayor and blamed her for what happened earlier in the day, two sources at the scene told Chicago Sun Times.
The Alderman Anthony Napolitano, the grieving father, said that while he did not see Lightfoot as anti-police, she needed to shoulder blame for encouraging defund the police activists which he says left the city’s cops badly demoralized.
Lightfoot then tried to comfort the grieving rank and file officers nearby, when they walked away and turned their backs on her, the sources said.
‘They did the about-face — it looked like it had been choreographed,’ said one of the sources present, calling the scene ‘astounding.’
The source said this is when Lightfoot became visibly disturbed. A photo of officers turning their backs to the mayor went viral on Twitter.
The Mayor’s office released a statement regarding her visit to the hospital saying: ‘The mayor was present at the emergency room to offer support and condolences to the families involved and the hundreds of line officers and exempts who were there, which she did.
‘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 . . . 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.’
Two brothers have since been charged over the shooting murder of Chicago police officer Ella French during a traffic stop when they were pulled over for driving with an expired license plate.
Emonte ‘Monty’ Morgan, 21, is charged with first-degree murder of a peace officer, attempted first-degree murder of a peace officer, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, and unlawful use of a weapon by a felon.
His brother, Eric Morgan, 22, is charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, and obstruction of justice.
The charges were announced by the Chicago Police Department on Monday evening. On Tuesday afternoon, Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy shared a video statement in which Monty admitted to drinking, having a gun, and opening fire on two officers.
Cook County Judge Arthur Willis ordered the brothers held without bond saying, ‘(The officers) didn´t have their weapons drawn, they weren´t firing on him, and callously (Morgan) shoots and kills one, and the other is in critical condition.’
An initial court appearance is set for Aug. 16.
A woman who was in the car with the Morgan brothers has not been charged due to lack of evidence. Federal prosecutors Monday charged an Indiana man Jamal Danzy, 29, with federal firearm violations for purchasing and then illegally supplying the semi-automatic handgun used in the shooting.
He is accused of buying the weapon from a licensed gun dealer in Hammond, Indiana, in March and providing it to an Illinois resident who he knew could neither buy nor possess guns because of a felony conviction.
French has been the first officer to die in the line of duty since Lightfoot first took office in May 2019. Although she highlighted her law enforcement background as a former federal prosecutor during her mayoral run, she has since worked to push for police reform losing favor from the Chicago PD.
At a press conference moments after leaving the hospital,’ Lightfoot told reporters, ‘It’s very sad. We must remind ourselves every day, our officers are fearless in the face of danger. They run to danger, to protect us.’
‘It’s a very sad and tragic day for our city,’ added the Democrat, who proposed cutting $80 million from the CPD budget amid ‘defund the police’ demonstrations last year.
The proposal was later scaled back and Lightfoot has denounced the ‘defund’ movement, but Chicago’s police union still issued a vote of ‘no confidence’ in the mayor earlier this year.
‘The police are not our enemies,’ Lightfoot said later on Sunday. ‘We must come together… We have a common enemy: It’s the guns and the gangs.’
Lightfoot urged Chicagoans to end the acrimony between police supporters who believe cops are hamstrung by bureaucracy, and opponents who want to see police departments defunded or abolished.
‘Stop. Just stop,’ she said. ‘This constant strife is not what we need in this moment.’
John Catanzara, the president of the Chicago police union, told the Sun-Times that the officers’ decision to turn their backs on Lightfoot was ‘significant.’
‘Turning their backs on the mayor was an excellent example of how the hundreds of police officers felt waiting outside the hospital,’ Catanzara said, adding that officers no longer support Lightfoot’s leadership.
‘They have had enough and are no longer going to remain silent anymore,’ said the union boss.
The shooting of the officers occurred on another violent summer weekend in the nation’s third largest city, with at least 64 people shot, 10 fatally, by Sunday afternoon.
Last month, Chicago police responded to 461 shooting incidents which is an uptick from July 2020, crime data shows.
Chicago police said officers investigated 105 murders last month— more than 90% the result of gun violence. Shooting incidents have risen 12% from 2020 and 65% from 2019.
Murders, criminal sexual assaults, theft, and motor vehicle theft have increased since this time last year. But robberies, aggravated battery, and burglaries have continued to go down in the past four years with crime over all decreasing 30%
Chicago police recently announced the recovery of nearly 7,300 guns in the city so far this year- a 28% increase from 2020. But to preemptively stop the crime, the flow of illegal weapons needs to be cut off.
Chicago police Supt. David Brown announced the launch of a new gun investigations team of 50 officers tasked with tracing, tracking and arresting gun runners and straw purchasers.
This comes as the country as a whole is struggling to combat a major spike in crime, especially gun violence. Brown traveled to Washington D.C. to meet with President Joe Biden to address the rise in crime nationwide. The Biden Administration has also announced a strategy to focus on apprehending gun dealers instead of individual criminals.