On Fox and Friends this morning, Chicago Fraternal Order of Police President Kevin Graham tore into Chicago Superintendent Eddie Johnson over his decision to skip a speech scheduled next week from President Donald Trump:
Graham told [Steve] Doocy: “He has said that he has problems with President Trump. And, my feeling is, there are plenty of people that I have problems with but, the reality is when police officers are out on the street, we do not engage in political activity.“The reality is that we are here to enforce the laws and, unfortunately, the police department doesn’t get to choose which laws they want to enforce. We try to enforce them impartially and if you want laws changed, you go to that body and try to change them,” he stated.
The decision disgusted Graham:
“He is the president of the United States. And, the reality of this is there are plenty of times I’ve sat listening to speeches that I didn’t care for, and I certainly didn’t walk out on them,” he said.Graham noted that the city of Chicago has “derived a great deal of support” from the president, particularly with ATF agents and federal prosecutors that “prosecute our gun laws because our local prosecutor hasn’t done the job.””And, it’s driven down the crime. Last month we took a thousand guns off the street. Last month alone,” said Graham.
Trump will address the International Association of Chiefs of Police next week at its annual convention.
Johnson said he will not attend:
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Johnson said that he “understand[s] and respect[s]” that the board is upset with his decision not to stand alongside the president.”As police officers, our job is to be the voice or the voiceless and ambassadors to the communities that we serve,” he said. “I can’t in good conscience stand by while racial insults and hatred are cast from the oval office, or Chicago is held hostage because of our views on New Americans.”Johnson’s spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said that “The values of the people of Chicago are more important to [Johnson] than anything that could be discussed at that speech.”
The union then voted “no confidence” against him:
“The FOP would be extremely disappointed if Superintendent Eddie Johnson would disrespect President Trump by not attending the President’s speech at the convention, as has been suggested in the media,” the FOP wrote in a post Tuesday.“Such a gesture would be an insult to both President Trump and the office of the presidency itself and would be a mark of disgrace upon the city throughout the entire nation, including Mayor Lori Lightfoot.”A spokesman for the union confirmed the no confidence vote to WTTW News, but provided no further comment.
The union described the decision as “the last straw.” The department recently placed Johnson under an internal investigation after officers found him “slumped over in his vehicle” at 12:30 AM last week. The responding officers allowed him to drive home.
Johnson claimed the change in his blood pressure medicine caused his drowsiness. Mayor Lori Lightfoot said the superintendent enjoyed “a couple of drinks with dinner” that night.
This is not the first time a police union has criticized a local official for engaging in political activity against Trump.
Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis President Lieutenant Bob Kroll ripped Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey for trying to use alternate routes to stop a Trump rally in the city.
Kroll also took issue with a new rule that does not allow “off-duty officers from appearing in uniform at political rallies or events.” The police chief and Frey claimed the rule is not political, but the union did not believe them.
Kroll told Fox News Frey was trying to “bully” Trump.
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