Chicago's police union president says officers who kneel with Black Lives Matter protesters could be kicked out of the organization

• John Catanzara, the new president of the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police criticized officers' decisions to kneel with protesters at Black Lives Matter demonstrations in an interview with Fox32 Chicago.
• He said now is not the "time or place" to be kneeling with protestors, and said officers would be "risking being brought up on charges and thrown out of the lodge" if they did so.
• Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot called his comments "really unfortunate."

The president of Chicago's police union said that any officer who kneels with Black Lives Matter protestors could be kicked out of the organization.

John Catanzara, the new president of the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police told Fox32 Chicago that he didn't believe the current Black Lives Matter protests that broke out after the death of George Floyd were the "time or place" to be kneeling.

"If you kneel, you'll be risking being brought up on charges and thrown out of the lodge," Catanzara, who has been in office for a month, told Fox32. "This was about defunding and abolishing the police officers. And you're going to take a knee for that? It's ridiculous."

Police have been photographed kneeling with protesters at demonstrations across the US in recent weeks, as tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets daily calling for police reform and the end of police violence. There have also been reports of police officers driving squad cars into crowds, attacking people with pepper spray and batons, and shooting rubber bullets at journalists and demonstrators.

In New York, one NYPD lieutenant apologized for taking a knee with protesters and fellow police department members.

"The conditions prior to the decision to take a knee were very difficult as we were put center stage with the entire crowd chanting," he wrote in his apology, seen by the New York Post. "I know I made the wrong decision. We didn't know how the protesters would have reacted if we didn't and were attempting to reduce any extra violence."

When asked about Catanzara's comments, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said they didn't "dignify" a response.

"I don't really think that we should credit those kinds of really unfortunate comments, and I'm not going to dignify them with any further response," she said.

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