{"id":341,"date":"2021-11-21T00:00:46","date_gmt":"2021-11-21T00:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/princetonillinois.com\/?p=341"},"modified":"2021-11-21T00:00:46","modified_gmt":"2021-11-21T00:00:46","slug":"chicago-police-union-head-urges-cops-to-defy-vaccine-mandate-wqad-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/princetonillinois.com\/?p=341","title":{"rendered":"Chicago police union head urges cops to defy vaccine mandate – WQAD.com"},"content":{"rendered":"

CHICAGO, Illinois \u2014 The head of the Chicago police officers union has called on its members to defy the city\u2019s requirement to report their COVID-19 vaccination status by Friday or be placed on unpaid leave.
In the video posted online Tuesday and first reported on by the Chicago Sun-Times, Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara vowed to take Mayor Lori Lightfoot\u2019s administration to court if it tries to enforce the mandate, which requires city workers to report their vaccine status by the end of the work week. After Friday, unvaccinated workers who won\u2019t submit to semiweekly coronavirus testing will be placed<\/a> on unpaid leave.
Catanzara suggested that if the city does enforce its requirement and many union members refuse to comply with it, \u201cIt\u2019s safe to say that the city of Chicago will have a police force at 50% or less for this weekend coming up.\u201d
RELATED: Genesis Foundation offers free flu shots in Illinois, more clinics in October<\/a><\/strong>
A spokesperson for the mayor said her office would not issue a statement in response to Catanzara\u2019s remarks. Neither the mayor\u2019s office nor the police department immediately responded to Wednesday requests for comment. The mayor had a press briefing scheduled for later in the day.
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In the video, Catanzara instructs officers to file for exemptions to receiving the vaccine but to not enter that information into the city\u2019s vaccine portal.
He said that although he has made clear his vaccine status, \u201cI do not believe the city has the authority to mandate that to anybody, let alone that information about your medical history.\u201d
First responders around the country have been hit hard<\/a> by the virus but have been resisting vaccination mandates. More than 460 law enforcement officers have died of COVID-19, including four members of the Chicago Police Department, according the Officer Down Memorial Page. On Tuesday, Dean Angelo, who once held Catanzara\u2019s union position, died of the disease.
Catanzara\u2019s has clashed with the mayor over a host of issues. After the city announced the vaccine mandate in August, the union head compared it to something that might happen to Nazi Germany, telling the Sun-Times, \u201cThis ain\u2019t Nazi… Germany (saying) \u2018Step into the… showers, the pills won\u2019t hurt you.\u2019\u201d
Lightfoot blasted Catanzara for his \u201coffensive outburst\u201d and Catanzara posted a video on the union\u2019s YouTube<\/a> channel apologizing for his choice of words, saying he was not trying to link vaccinations to what happened during the Holocaust.
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CHICAGO, Illinois \u2014 The head of the Chicago police officers union has called on its members to defy the city\u2019s requirement to report their COVID-19 vaccination status by Friday or be placed on unpaid leave.In the video posted online Tuesday and first reported on by the Chicago Sun-Times, Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara vowed to take Mayor Lori<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t