John Catanzara is an American police union leader, and former member of the

Chicago Police Department The Chicago Police Department (CPD) is the municipal law enforcement agency of the U.S. city of Chicago, Illinois, under the jurisdiction of the City Council. It is the second-largest municipal police department in the United States, behind t ...

. Since May 2020, Catanzara has been president of Lodge 7 of the

Fraternal Order of Police The Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) is a fraternal organization consisting of sworn law enforcement officers in the United States. It reports a membership of over 355,000 members organized in 2,100 local chapters (lodges), state lodges, and the ...

. He joined the Chicago Police Department in 1995 and was placed on administrative leave after filing a report against former Police Superintendent

Eddie T. Johnson Eddie T. Johnson (born July 28, 1960) is an American retired police officer for the Chicago Police Department. He served as the 62nd Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department from March 2016 until December 2019. Early life and education ...

. Catanzara resigned from the CPD in November 2021, as his firing from the CPD appeared imminent, and announced his intention to run for

mayor of Chicago The mayor of Chicago is the chief executive of city government in Chicago, Illinois, the third-largest city in the United States. The mayor is responsible for the administration and management of various city departments, submits proposals and r ...

Early life

Catanzara was raised in

Garfield Ridge, Chicago Garfield Ridge is the 56th of Chicago's 77 community areas. Located from the Loop, it is on the city's far southwest side. , the area had 36,396 inhabitants. Named for Garfield Boulevard and a nearby glacial ridge, the area suffered from land ...

. His father was a

truck driver A truck driver (commonly referred to as a trucker, teamster, or driver in the United States and Canada; a truckie in Australia and New Zealand; a HGV driver in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the European Union, a lorry driver, or driver in ...

and active

union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

member. After graduating from St Rita High School, Catanzara worked as a

Career

Catanzara joined the

in 1995. In 2020, Catanzara was elected as the head of the Chicago

(FOP). Previously in 2017, Cataranza stated of Muslims: "Savages they all deserve a bullet." Later he defended the

2021 storming of the United States Capitol On January 6, 2021, following the defeat of then-United States President, U.S. President Donald Trump in the 2020 United States presidential election, 2020 presidential election, a mob of his supporters attacked the United States Capitol, U ...

by Trump supporters, stating that: "They’re individuals ... They get to do what they want." Catanzara has faced numerous complaints of misconduct during his over 20-year career as a CPD officer. He was assigned as the school officer at Hubbard High School for several years where he coached cross country and was involved with the school's

Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps The Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC -- commonly pronounced "JAY-rotsee") is a federal program sponsored by the United States Armed Forces in high schools and also in some middle schools across the United States and at US military ...

program. In February 2021, Catanzara was suspended without pay from the Chicago Police Department for authoring a series of obscene and inflammatory social media posts, making false reports and being insubordinate or disrespectful to supervisors. In August 2021, he was criticized by mayor

Lori Lightfoot Lori Elaine Lightfoot (born August 4, 1962) is an American attorney and politician serving since 2019 as the 56th mayor of Chicago. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Before becoming mayor, Lightfoot worked in private legal practice as ...

, the

Anti-Defamation League The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), formerly known as the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, is an international Jewish non-governmental organization based in the United States specializing in civil rights law. It was founded in late Septe ...

, and the

American Jewish Committee The American Jewish Committee (AJC) is a Jewish advocacy group established on November 11, 1906. It is one of the oldest Jewish advocacy organizations and, according to ''The New York Times'', is "widely regarded as the dean of American Jewish org ...

for his comments comparing

vaccine mandates A vaccination policy is a health policy adopted in order to prevent the spread of infectious disease. These policies are generally put into place by State or local governments, but may also be set by private facilities, such as workplaces or s ...

The Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

. In October 2021, Catanzara urged union police officers to file exemptions for the city's COVID vaccine reporting mandate and hold off on reporting vaccination status while on-going discussion between F.O.P. police union and city officials continue. In November 2021, Catanzara resigned from the CPD amid a disciplinary case against him in regards to alleged departmental rule violations, inflammatory social media posts, and creating false reports against superior officers. Catanzara announced his candidacy for the

2023 Chicago mayoral election The 2023 Chicago mayoral election was held on February 28, 2023, to elect the mayor of Chicago, Illinois. With no candidate receiving a majority of votes in the initial round of the election, a runoff election was held on April 4. This two-roun ...

. After Catanzara was disqualified, he endorsed

Paul Vallas Paul Gust Vallas (born June 10, 1953) is an American politician and former superintendent of the Bridgeport Public Schools and the Recovery School District of Louisiana, former CEO of both the School District of Philadelphia and the Chicago Public ...

, the only other white candidate running for mayor at the time. During the mayoral run-off campaign, Catanzara predicted that if the other candidate

Brandon Johnson Brandon Johnson (born March 27, 1976) is an American educator and politician serving as the 57th mayor of Chicago. A member of the Democratic Party, Johnson was elected mayor in April 2023. He previously served on the Cook County Board of Commi ...

won there would be "blood in the streets" and mass resignations from the police department. Later In March 2023, Catanzara was reelected as union president of the Chicago FOP, with 57% of the vote.

Disciplinary record

Catanzara had been suspended 9 times for a total of 131 days during his career. He was subject of 50 civilian complaints, which put him in the 96th percentile of officers. Ten of the civilian complaints were sustained. He survived two previous attempts to fire him, before he resigned in the middle of another disciplinary action where he could potentially have lost his job.

Personal life

Catanzara had a son at the age of 22. Cantanzara is a supporter of

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Catanzara, John Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Chicago Police Department officers Politicians from Chicago Trade unionists from Illinois 21st-century American politicians