Following comments from Chicago Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara that seemed to dismiss critics of the mob that stormed the United States Capitol on Wednesday, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot blasted the union leader, calling his stance a “clear delusion.”
In a tweet posted Thursday, Lightfoot quote-tweeted WBEZ reporter Chip Mitchell, who conducted a phone interview with Catanzara after the incident at the Capitol. Catanzara dismissed critiques of the violent mob as “ridiculous and ignorant,” saying that they were seemingly only guilty of property damage.
“This wasn’t ‘frustration.’ It was a violent insurrection,” Lightfoot said. “The comments by John Catanzara either demonstrate clear delusion or reckless disrespect for the rule of law – or both.”
At least four people died during the assault, including a woman who was shot and killed and three other individuals who died after suffering medical emergencies.
As the mob, some armed, breached the Capitol, lawmakers who were in session to certify the votes of the electoral college were forced to take cover, ending the session for several hours.
Lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle called the incident an “insurrection,” while Democratic lawmakers called for President Donald Trump to step down or to be removed from office for “inciting” the rioters.
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Catanzara dismissed concerns over the mob’s actions in the phone interview with Mitchell.
“There was no arson. There was no burning of anything. There was no looting. There was very little destruction of property,” he said. “It was a bunch of pissed-off people that feel an election was stolen somehow, some way.”
Catanzara went on to compare the storming of the Capitol to the unrest that followed the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, saying that it was “very different than what happened all across this country all summer long in Democratic-run cities.”
“If the worst crime (at the Capitol) is trespassing, so be it. But to call these people treasonous is beyond ridiculous and ignorant.”
