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According to Chicago police data, there were 27 separate
shooting incidents throughout the city last weekend, which
resulted in seven deaths.
Johnson last week was asked about large groups of teens who
ended up damaging property and causing disruption. Johnson said
the group was "cutting it up."
"You all know I've been a public school teacher, and sometimes
you have a number of students who want to find spaces where they
can cut up," Johnson said. "You have to Google that. It's like
Black terminology for doing things potentially harmful to
someone else or themselves."
Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7 President John Catanzara
called it criminal behavior and blamed the mayor for not being
tougher on crime.
"The teen takeover on Roosevelt Road was not a teen takeover. It
was looting. It was mob action," Catanzara said. "It is in the
ordinance, Mr. Mayor. Look it up."
Johnson last week pushed back at a reporter for his use of the
term "mob action."
"It's important that we speak of these dynamics in the
appropriate way. This is not to obfuscate what has actually
taken place, but we have to be very careful when we use language
to describe certain behavior," Johnson said. "To refer to
children as baby Al Capone is not appropriate."
Catanzara says Johnson has proven he does not care about the
safety of the communities or working with police.
"No one has called them mini Capones, but they certainly, in
many cases, have the terrorizing effect that Al Capone had 100
years ago with these teen takeovers where they think they can do
whatever they want with no repercussions, no parental
supervision and no accountability," Catanzara said. "Especially
from the mayor's office."
"You're proving yourself to be exactly who we were afraid you
were going to be," Catanzara said of Johnson. "You are taking
CTU lead and making excuses for bad behavior like they have done
for many years now in the school system, not giving quality
education, endotoring kids and making them victims where they
think they are entitled to behave any way they want."
Johnson ran his 2022 mayoral campaign on fixing issues of
policing in the city and came under fire for past comments
relating to defunding the department.
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