Free Republic

One of the things that has distinguished the present radical leftists from a lot of the leftists is that they no longer have any limits. Once upon a time it was understood even among folks on the left that it was wrong to go to protest at someone’s home. Not anymore. These radical leftists have made it a part of their cannon to force local politicians to do what they want. We’ve seen that in places like Seattle where they’ve marched on the homes of the mayor and members of the city council. Marching on the mayor’s home had the...

The Christopher Columbus statue in Grant Park was removed hours after Mayor Lori Lightfoot called for its removal. Two cranes pulled their way up to the statue just before 2 a.m. Friday, after hours of vocal confrontations between protestors and supporters of the statue, including John Catanzara, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7. The decision to take down two monuments to Columbus came after violent clashes between police and protesters broke out last week when activists attempted to tear down a statue of the Italian explorer in Grant Park. “This statue coming down is because of the...

CHICAGO - Hundreds of protesters gathered in Logan Square Thursday night, reportedly marching to Mayor Lori Lightfoot's house. The protesters were demanding the Chicago Police Department be defunded. They also wanted justice for 18-year-old activist Miracle Boyd, who was allegedly punched by a Chicago police officer last week as demonstrators and cops clashed near the Christopher Columbus statue in Grant Park.

During an interview aired on Wednesday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “The Story,” Chicago Alderman Raymond Lopez (D) sharply criticized Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) by stating that her “level of pettiness is causing disaster” and criticizing her public feud with President Trump by stating that the dispute reminds him “of how many lives were lost because of the politics of grandstanding in the city of Chicago.” Lopez said, “It’s unfortunate. Because the mayor has been going back and forth with the president, who, to be perfectly honest, I don’t agree on many of his policies, but protecting our...

President Trump said Wednesday his administration is sending federal law enforcement officers into Chicago and Albuquerque, expanding his controversial crackdown on what he claims is an unchecked surge of violence in Democratically-run cities. "Today I am announcing a surge of federal law enforcement into American communities plagued by violent crime,” Trump said in remarks from the East Room of the White House. He added he had “no choice but to get involved." Trump said the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Marshals Service and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would all send agents to Chicago.

Catanzara appeared Tuesday night on "The Ingraham Angle," where he also reacted to breaking news that at least a dozen people had been shot outside a funeral home. Lightfoot had referred to Catanzara as "unhinged" and attention-seeking after the union leader wrote a letter to President Trump asking for federal assistance amid Chicago's continuing crime wave. Lightfoot called the prospect of federal intervention "chaos" and "lawlessness." "The mayor likes to use the word 'unhinged' but the ironic part is the mayor became unhinged. I wish I could show you the text messages that she sent me over the weekend as...

Little wonder that protests and riots are increasing in frequency: Last night Groot (Mayor Lori Lightfoot) ordered the Commander and Deputy Chief not to arrest any of the protesters that had their sit in that disrupted traffic for more than four hours at Roosevelt and Columbus. At on point while sitting in that intersection the group ordered pizzas. The mayor of this city is allowing all of this (stuff) to happen and the media is silent. A (expletive deleted) four hour pizza party at a very busy intersection and the police have to babysit and allow it to go on....

Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Monday tightened regulations on Chicago bars, restaurants, gyms and personal services to prevent a spike of coronavirus among young people from turning into a dangerous surge. Effective at 12:01 a.m. Friday: • Bars, taverns breweries and other establishments without a retail food license that serve alcohol for on-site consumption will be prohibited from serving their customers indoors. Restaurants will be permitted to continue to serve alcohol, so long as they strictly enforce the city’s regulations. Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Monday tightened regulations on Chicago bars, restaurants, gyms and personal services to prevent a spike of coronavirus...

In a bizarre video announcement, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced that a "Census Cowboy" will now be going to the 10 communities in the city with the lowest Census completion rates to urge residents to fill out the form. "Giddy up, Chicago. I'm calling on the Census Cowboy to help improve our Census response rates across Chicago. Make the Census Cowboy proud by filling out the Census today at my2020census.gov," Lightfoot said in a tweet of the video. Lightfoot started her speech by comparing Chicago to Gotham City from "Batman." "When I was a kid, I loved the "Batman" TV show....

The violence in Chicago over Independence Day weekend may not have been quite as bad as the massacre that John wrote about two weeks ago, but it was still pretty awful. There were crowds of people out and about in the Windy City, but not all of them were looking to celebrate our nation’s independence. By the middle of the day on Sunday, the Associated Press reported that there were “at least” 13 people killed and nearly 60 more shot around the city. And as it turns out, the AP was lowballing the figures.

How many more babies will be murdered in Chicago’s street gang wars? It’s time to stop the bleeding, Mayor Lightfoot. Stop the bleeding. And lead your city. She’s thrown her police under the bus, but on Wednesday she announced a 180-degree change. She needs them. Now she wants her exhausted cops to sweep problem areas and make arrests, even if social justice warriors complain. She’s been mugged by reality and knows virtue signaling and rhetoric won’t stop the gangs. Yes, that stuff excites national media and networks. They get tingles when she rips on President Donald Trump. He’s snarky, she’s...

As the number of murders in Chicago soared in June, there was a huge slowdown of police activity that the police union blames on rock-bottom morale and distrust of Mayor Lori Lightfoot. Police Supt. David Brown said Monday that police activity slowed because fewer people have been on the streets “because of COVID.” But John Catanzara, president of the Fraternal Order of Police, said Tuesday it’s more than that. “I’m not telling them not to do police work,” Catanzara said of his members. “But I hope they just slow down and decide ‘Is this necessary?’ before they do it.” Catanzara...

Republican President Donald Trump lashed out Friday night at Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Mayor Lori Lightfoot over Chicago’s gun violence, saying the two had put their “own political interests” ahead of the lives of residents and insisting that “law and order” was needed. In a letter, Trump also used the violence issue as a jumping off point to attack the state and city for high taxes and burdensome regulations, contending Pritzker and Lightfoot’s “insatiable appetite” for taxes has led people to flee Illinois. A Pritzker spokeswoman said Trump’s letter was a “press stunt” aimed at serving as a distraction...

Governor Pritzker and Mayor Lightfoot: I write to you today to call your attention to and urge action on the devastating violence in Chicago. I have been horrified by the continued violence in this great American city. The American people (hardworking taxpayers) send you millions of dollars in Federal funding each year to support public safety in Chicago. In 2018 and 2019, Chicago benefited from $136 million in funding from the Urban Area Security Initiative Grant Program, and another $68 million was recently announced for Chicago from this important program. The Department of Justice awarded and is in the process...

Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Thursday lambasted as “clearly racist” and “deeply offensive” a tweet by the Chicago Teachers Union depicting an apparent cartoon version of her tied up, wearing a police uniform and being unmasked by the characters from the “Scooby-Doo” TV show. The tweet depicts the African American mayor bound with rope, surrounded by the white characters, who have taken a police officer mask off her head to reveal that the officer is actually Lightfoot. It’s a play on the scene at the end of each episode of the Hanna Barbera cartoon, when the team of youngsters would solve...

A new group appointed to review the Chicago Police Department’s use-of-force policy came under immediate fire after its co-chair as “psychopaths with guns.” Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara demanded the resignation of co-chair Arewa Karen Winters, saying her remarks make it clear the working group will be a kangaroo court. She began: “Good morning to my beautiful, broken city” — then blamed police for doing the breaking. “As far as I’m concerned, [they are] psychopaths with guns. So I am infuriated. I am furious.” “The announced function of the police to protect and serve the people becomes the...

Chicago police officers on Sunday had once again been ordered to work 12-hour shifts and have their days off canceled amid some protesting that has persisted in parts of the city following George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police nearly three weeks ago. A Chicago police spokesman could not say why officers were forced to go back to the extended shifts, but the directive from top CPD brass comes following the shooting death Friday night of a black man by a police officer in Atlanta. That shooting, which led to the firing of the officer and the resignation...

When Lopez finished his comments, Lightfoot tried to move on without answering him and Lopez insisted that she address his questions. “I think you’re 100% full of s---, is what I think,” Lightfoot responded. Lopez replied, “Well, f--- you then.” Asked at an unrelated news conference earlier this week whether she regrets “using such colorful language,” Lightfoot said the entirety of the conversation went for an hour and a half.

Chicago GOP Chair Steve Boulton criticized Mayor Lori Lightfoot's press conference in which she attacked 13 Chicago police officers caught on video in Bobby Rush's office, reclining on sofas and eating popcorn in the early morning hours June 1st. “We know who you are and will find you,” Lightfoot said after showing a video from Rush's office. “Since the Mayor wasn’t on the streets during the riots, she has no idea what dedicated police officers went through to protect this city against rioting over the weekend. Officers went on 12 hour shifts with little sleep and frequently were simply deposited...

FOP president fires back at Lightfoot, calls Rush a 'liar' over video. The head of the Chicago police union is blasting Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Bobby Rush over their response to a video which showed officers taking refuge in the congressman's office while looters ransacked nearby businesses during protests almost two weeks ago. Fraternal Order of Police President John Cantanzara says the looting happened earlier in the night on May 31 and that these officers were "lounging" around after the looting was already over. Cantanzara says the officers had originally been assigned to 87th Street and the Dan Ryan, and...