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To: Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Chicago city council members, Chicago Police Chief David Brown, and other civic leaders
Chicago: Say NO to Trump’s Secret Police
Chicago’s Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) went around their police chief and mayor to invite Donald Trump’s violent, unaccountable federal troops to the city. I’m calling on you to publicly denounce the FOP and refuse to negotiate with them on any aspect of police accountability or reform, until they reverse course.
Why is this important?
Over the last two weeks, we’ve seen heavily armed federal troops controlled by Donald Trump descend on Portland: snatching peaceful Black Lives Matter protesters off the streets and putting them in unmarked vans. They tear-gassed, beat, and shot protesters with “less lethal” rounds, injuring several and almost killing one. Portland’s mayor and city council, Oregon’s governor and state legislators have denounced Trump’s authoritarian tactics and called on the feds to leave.
Now, the president of Chicago’s Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), John Catanzara, is helping bring Trump’s goons to Chicago. Catanzara—who has had more than 35 official complaints against him, and been suspended 6 times—sent a letter to Trump asking him to send federal agents to “bring civility back to the streets of Chicago.” Just days later, Trump announced that he’s sending troops to Chicago and other cities across the country, and he referenced the Chicago FOP’s letter to him to help justify it.
Trump is attempting to create a national, federal police force that operates in secret and is accountable only to him, not to local communities or their elected officials. With outrage erupting at these plans, the Trump administration is claiming the officers they’re sending to Chicago and other cities are there to fight violent crime, not to crack down on protesters like in Portland. But Trump and his allies in the FOP (and other police unions) are blaming a rise in violent crime on a climate of hostility to police, saying that federal troops are needed to “restore order.” Trump’s enthusiasm for using law enforcement to target his political enemies is clear. He’s been practicing in Washington D.C. and Portland, and now he wants to bring the same repressive federal police to Chicago and other cities. It’s a direct power grab, and a dog whistle to the violent racists in Trump’s base that crave violence against protesters and people of color. It’s likely a preparation for using these same federal forces to suppress the vote and steal the election in November. And now, police unions are going over the heads of their own police chiefs and mayors to invite Trump’s federal police into their cities, to collaborate with them in a violent crackdown on peaceful protest and dissent.
The national FOP is strongly supporting Trump’s move (while defending Catanzara and helping him attack Chicago’s mayor). The president of Portland’s police union had a friendly meeting with Trump’s Director of Homeland Security to discuss the federal agents there—without the knowledge of Portland’s chief of police, and while Portland’s leaders were calling for the feds to leave. The ACLU is suing the Trump administration to stop his federal agents from attacking journalists in Portland, and the National Police Association filed a legal brief against the ACLU and in support of Trump—arguing that police need to be able to use violence against journalists and legal observers.
It is long past time for Chicago’s political leaders to refuse to negotiate or work with the FOP in any way. Chicago’s FOP is notorious for attacking, intimidating, and threatening activists and political leaders who get in their way. It takes extreme measures to undermine reform and block accountability for violent and abusive officers. Chicago’s FOP and other police unions have long promoted violent, unaccountable, and authoritarian policing on the local level. Now they are inviting in federal troops to help escalate violence and repression against those who are challenging the police and demanding change in Chicago. They are signing up to work with Trump—a would-be totalitarian dictator—as he sets up a secret, nationwide, personal police force. It’s incredibly dangerous, and we can’t allow it to go unchecked.
Join us in calling on Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, the Chicago city council, and other leaders to denounce the FOP and refuse to negotiate with them on any aspect of police accountability and reform until they drastically reverse course.
Now, the president of Chicago’s Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), John Catanzara, is helping bring Trump’s goons to Chicago. Catanzara—who has had more than 35 official complaints against him, and been suspended 6 times—sent a letter to Trump asking him to send federal agents to “bring civility back to the streets of Chicago.” Just days later, Trump announced that he’s sending troops to Chicago and other cities across the country, and he referenced the Chicago FOP’s letter to him to help justify it.
Trump is attempting to create a national, federal police force that operates in secret and is accountable only to him, not to local communities or their elected officials. With outrage erupting at these plans, the Trump administration is claiming the officers they’re sending to Chicago and other cities are there to fight violent crime, not to crack down on protesters like in Portland. But Trump and his allies in the FOP (and other police unions) are blaming a rise in violent crime on a climate of hostility to police, saying that federal troops are needed to “restore order.” Trump’s enthusiasm for using law enforcement to target his political enemies is clear. He’s been practicing in Washington D.C. and Portland, and now he wants to bring the same repressive federal police to Chicago and other cities. It’s a direct power grab, and a dog whistle to the violent racists in Trump’s base that crave violence against protesters and people of color. It’s likely a preparation for using these same federal forces to suppress the vote and steal the election in November. And now, police unions are going over the heads of their own police chiefs and mayors to invite Trump’s federal police into their cities, to collaborate with them in a violent crackdown on peaceful protest and dissent.
The national FOP is strongly supporting Trump’s move (while defending Catanzara and helping him attack Chicago’s mayor). The president of Portland’s police union had a friendly meeting with Trump’s Director of Homeland Security to discuss the federal agents there—without the knowledge of Portland’s chief of police, and while Portland’s leaders were calling for the feds to leave. The ACLU is suing the Trump administration to stop his federal agents from attacking journalists in Portland, and the National Police Association filed a legal brief against the ACLU and in support of Trump—arguing that police need to be able to use violence against journalists and legal observers.
It is long past time for Chicago’s political leaders to refuse to negotiate or work with the FOP in any way. Chicago’s FOP is notorious for attacking, intimidating, and threatening activists and political leaders who get in their way. It takes extreme measures to undermine reform and block accountability for violent and abusive officers. Chicago’s FOP and other police unions have long promoted violent, unaccountable, and authoritarian policing on the local level. Now they are inviting in federal troops to help escalate violence and repression against those who are challenging the police and demanding change in Chicago. They are signing up to work with Trump—a would-be totalitarian dictator—as he sets up a secret, nationwide, personal police force. It’s incredibly dangerous, and we can’t allow it to go unchecked.
Join us in calling on Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, the Chicago city council, and other leaders to denounce the FOP and refuse to negotiate with them on any aspect of police accountability and reform until they drastically reverse course.