Over Two Dozen Chicago Police Turn Their Backs After Being Greeted By Democrat Mayor Lori Lightfoot
When Mayor Lori Lightfoot arrived late Saturday to the hospital where one officer remains in serious condition, more than two dozen Chicago police officers reportedly turned their backs.
Officer Ella French, 29, of the Chicago Police Department was fatally shot during a traffic stop on Saturday night, as her partner is fighting for his life at the University of Chicago Medical Center. The Chicago Sun-Times reported Monday morning that when Lightfoot visited the hospital about midnight Saturday, approximately 30 officers turned their backs on her as she approached them on the 7th floor.
“It looked like it had been choreographed,” a source told the publication.
Here is your police turning their backs on Lightfoot speaking at the hospital. Use at your leisure sir Alderman pic.twitter.com/GX2NzVEss6
— Irishlords (@Irishlords1) August 8, 2021
When the mayor attempted to speak with the male officer’s father, a former Chicago policeman, sources told the Sun-Times that he gave her an earful. While he blamed her for what occurred, she reportedly kept calm and attentive.
“In a time of tragedy, emotions run high and that is to be expected.” the mayor’s press office said in a statement to Fox News.
“The Mayor spoke to a range of officers that tragic night and sensed the overwhelming sentiment was about concern for their fallen colleagues,” the statement read. “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.”
Over the weekend, dozens of shooting incidents occurred across Chicago, leaving 13 people dead and 73 wounded.
According to data, the Chicago Police Department reported 54 gunshot occurrences between Friday 6pm and midnight Sunday.
French, her partner, and another officer were shot after approaching a car with three passengers during a traffic encounter in West Englewood on Saturday, according to Chicago Police Department Supt. David Brown. Three suspects are currently being held by police.
Lightfoot ordered Sunday a day of mourning and requested that all flags be flown at half-staff. In a statement earlier, she called out on critics to “just stop,” about her treatment of police.
“There are some who say we do not do enough for the police and that we are handcuffing them from doing their jobs. There are others who say we do too much for the police and that we never hold them accountable for what they do, particularly in Black and brown neighborhoods,” Lightfoot said. “All of this, I say, stop. Just stop. This constant strife is not what we need in this moment. Of course, we have to continue the journey to achieve constitutional and accountable policing. That cannot be in debate at this point.”
Lightfoot at the end of her statement called on Chicagoans to “say thank you” when they see a police officer in public, adding, “We owe them a debt of gratitude that we will never truly be able to truly repay.”
Watch Chicago Police, Lightfoot hold press briefing:
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