Lightfoot Says Chicago Police Union Opposes Vax Mandate 'In Order to Induce an Insurrection'

Yours truly has been covering the violence in Chicago and the flailing administration of Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot for years now. So, I feel confident in saying that Lightfoot’s latest “hot take” is the stance of someone who uses incendiary terms in order to attempt to hang on to whatever influence and power they still have.

During a Monday press conference, Lightfoot told reporters that the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police’s (FOP) opposition to her imposition of a Chinese coronavirus vaccine mandate is being done “in order to induce an insurrection.”

Yeah, she actually said that.

“The police unions are not authorized to strike, it's in their collective bargaining agreement, it's a matter of state law," Lightfoot stated. "What we've seen from the Fraternal Order of Police and particularly the leadership is a lot of misinformation, a lot of half-truths, and frankly flat out lies in order to induce an insurrection, and we're not having that.”

Lightfoot acts as if people don’t have the individual, or in this case collective, ability to make choices for themselves. I understand that contracts dictate certain stipulations, but for Lightfoot to outright say what they’re doing in their own defense against tyranny is going to “induce” a word she seems not to understand is inflammatory and sets in motion what the city could possibly charge officers and the FOP with should Lightfoot not get her way.

Lightfoot also said that “the law is on our side” concerning essentially forcing officers to be vaccinated in order to be employed.

To that point, FOP President John Catanzara published comments in a YouTube video on October 12 stating that officers should “Hold the line.”

“I have made my status very clear as far as the vaccine, but I do not believe the city has the authority to mandate that to anybody - let alone that information about your medical history," Catanzara said, as reported by Townhall on October 14. "Do not fall for it. Hold the line.”

Judging from the FOP’s objection to her edicts concerning the mandate, it appears that “the law” isn’t on her side.

Another great point concerning this story came Monday evening during the Timcast IRL podcast when former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer presented the double standard that Lightfoot set during the "Summer of Floyd" in 2020.

They wanted to defund the cops. So all these guys are saying, ‘Hey, we’re not going to come to work.’ This should be the easiest solution. She should be in favor of [a possible police strike]. ‘Great, we wanted to defund you anyway.' But, it’s funny. Once [officers] say we’re not coming to work, now it’s ‘you guys are an insurrection.’ You can’t have it both ways. Either you defund them and you don’t want them to show up and you don’t like them. But suddenly now it’s, ‘I care about them, and I can’t believe they’re not showing up for work.’

For Lightfoot’s full comments, watch below: