Chicago police officers turned their backs to the city’s Democratic Mayor Lori Lightfoot Saturday evening at a hospital following the shooting of two fellow officers, leaving one dead and another in critical condition.
Ella French, a 29-year-old Chicago officer, died Saturday night at the University of Chicago Medical Center from a gun wound after she and a fellow authority were shot during a traffic stop. French’s colleague remains in critical condition at the hospital.
Lightfoot received a cold greeting upon visiting the hospital from the nearly 30 officers that turned their backs to the mayor on the seventh floor, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Monday. The mayor attempted to talk with the injured officer’s father, who openly blamed her for the incident.
The mayor reportedly handled the situation calmly as the father, a former Chicago police officer, yelled at her, the outlet reported. Afterward, she approached officers standing nearby, who gave her a cold glare.
John Catanzara, the president of the FOP, said the grieving officers present at the hospital do not support Lightfoot’s leadership and hold her partially responsible for the shootings, the outlet reported.
“The police officers’ decision to turn their backs on the mayor while waiting with the family on the 7th floor was significant,” the president said. “Turning their backs on the mayor was an excellent example of how the hundreds of police officers felt waiting outside the hospital. They have had enough and are no longer going to remain silent.”
Lightfoot said Sunday that the ongoing divisive criticism over the city’s handling of policing must “stop,” Fox News reported.
“There are some who say we do not do enough for the police and that we are handcuffing them from doing their jobs. There are others who say we do too much for the police and that we never hold them accountable for what they do, particularly in Black and brown neighborhoods,” the mayor said. “All of this, I say, stop. Just stop. This constant strife is not what we need at the moment.”
Lightfoot’s office said Monday that this is a time for the city to unite together and that emotions are expected to “run high” during a difficult time, according to the outlet.
“The mayor was present at the emergency room to offer support and condolences to the families involved and the hundreds of line officers and exempts who were there, which she did. In a time of tragedy, emotions run high and that is to be expected,” the statement read. “The mayor spoke to a range of officers that tragic night and sensed the overwhelming sentiment was about concern for their fallen colleagues.”
“As the mayor stated … now is not the time for divisive and toxic rhetoric or reporting. This is a time for us to come together as a city. We have a common enemy and it is the conditions that breed the violence and the manifestations of violence, namely illegal guns, and gangs.”
Over the weekend, at least 75 people were shot in Chicago with more than half being hit during a 10-hour time span, the Sun-Times reported. Three mass shootings occurred in the past few days that killed nine and injured sixteen people.
Shooting incidents rose by 12% in 2021 in comparison to the previous year, according to Chicago Police Department data. In 2020, the murder rate spiked by 50%.
HD Editor’s Note: Why Is This News Biblically Relevant?
Franklin Graham in his article, “Hope In An Age Of Lawlessness,” discussed the rising disrespect of police and anarchy filling our streets and how it points to the soon arrival of the “lawless one” coming onto the world scene:
We’ve seen it play out on our screens as violent protests against law enforcement have broken out in numerous American cities. Police stations and police cars have been burned; officers have been shamelessly heckled and have come under attack by throngs of angry protesters. Calls to defund the police, which began with the George Floyd case, spread quickly into city councils, and even into the halls of Congress.
An officer in Los Angeles was called a “murderer” and a “racist” at a simple traffic stop.
A California college student was berated by his professor for expressing his support of the local police.
In the Bronx, New York City police officers were heckled and cursed while responding to a call for help. “Sadly, this is the result of years of elected officials demonizing police officers and decriminalizing abhorrent behavior,” said the local police union. “We will only be successful in reducing crime if the good people of the community lend us a hand by showing support for police.”
The Bible says, “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work” (2 Thessalonians 2:7). Behind the ever-rising tide of violence, rage and anarchy is the evil one, the devil himself, spreading his wickedness in increasing intensity. The sheer brutality that has infected our culture is shocking, but not to our adversary who delights in it.
God appointed civil authorities—including our law enforcement—along with the godly influence of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ and the supernatural ministry of the Holy Spirit, to restrain evil to a degree (Romans 13:1; 2 Thessalonians 2:7).
One day—and I believe soon—“the lawless one will be revealed” (2 Thessalonians 2:8), and that is none other than the rise of the antichrist in the Great Tribulation. “The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders” (2 Thessalonians 2:9).
I believe the devil is called the lawless one because he has openly rebelled against Almighty God and seeks to oppose Him at every turn. The enemy has no regard for the decrees, statutes and commandments that God has laid down in Scripture.
But as Martin Luther so famously said:
Though this world, with devils filled, Should threaten to undo us, We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us.
God’s Word puts it this way: “The Lord will consume [him] with the breath of His mouth and destroy [him] with the brightness of His coming” (2 Thessalonians 2:8).
I look forward to that day, don’t you?
