Chicago mayor takes police union head to court over vaccines

CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Friday that she took her fight with the head of the city's police officers union to court, arguing that his call for officers to ignore the order to report their COVID-19 vaccination status was illegal.

The mayor said in a statement that the city's law department filed a complaint in Cook County Circuit Court for injunctive relief against Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara, whom she accused of “engaging in, supporting and encouraging work stoppage or strike."

A judge Friday evening granted the city’s request for a temporary injunction barring Catanzara from making any public comments that encourage FOP members to disobey the city’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate until the next hearing on the city’s lawsuit on Oct. 25.

Judge Cecilia Horan ruled there was potential irreparable harm if Catanzara continued such statements. City attorneys argued they were tantamount to him advocating “sedition” and “anarchy” because he was directing members to disobey an order from their superiors.

Lightfoot asked the court to prohibit the union and its officers from “engaging in any concerted refusal to submit vaccination status information” to the city's portal. She also asked it to order Catanzara to stop urging members to refuse to provide their vaccination status information and to “issue a retraction and disavowal of his ... directives to FOP members that they refuse to submit vaccination status information."

Lightfoot said that by urging union members to not report their COVID-19 by Friday's deadline, Catanzara put the public in danger.

"By doing so, and by predicting that 50% or more officers will violate their oaths and not report for duty, Catanzara is encouraging an unlawful strike and work stoppage which carries the...