Mayor Brandon Johnson said Friday he will attend the funeral of a slain officer, despite protests from the police union president, who said he would not be welcome.
The family of CPD Officer Enrique Martinez, who was shot during a traffic stop in Chatham on Monday, did not immediately comment on their wishes. but President John Catanzara of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7 and a Southwest Side state representative criticized the mayor, saying his presence would be disrespectful.
In a statement, Johnson spokesperson Erin Connelly said Johnson attends all honorary funerals for first responders killed in the line of duty, saying, “Our prayers and deepest condolences go out to the Martinez family and Officer Martinez’s beloved fiancée.”
“Mayor Johnson will attend the funeral services and celebration of life for Chicago Police Officer Enrique Martinez,” Connelly wrote. “These official services are solemn moments to honor the sacrifice of our officers and first responders. It is the mayor’s honor to support the officers of the entire Chicago Police Department, especially in moments of grief.”
The controversy reflects the polarized political climate in Chicago, in which the progressive mayor has faced criticism over law enforcement issues and frequently clashed with Catanzara.
In a YouTube video posted Monday, the head of the police union said Johnson was not welcome and would be a “piece of trash” if he attended.
“Mayor Johnson and Governor Pritzker were both told that the family wished they would not attend the services,” Catanzara said. “Governor Pritzker rightly recognized that immediately and said he would not be there to honor that family’s wishes. Mayor Johnson did not.”
George Barzydlo, a family friend who lived nearby, said these sentiments were true. The 65-year-old spoke on behalf of Martinez’s family and fiancée at a news conference Friday evening outside Chicago Lawn Police District headquarters and asked Johnson not to attend the funeral.
“They absolutely do not want the mayor to be at any of the events,” he said, adding that his presence would be a distraction.
Barzydlo said he and Martinez had a joking relationship. Barzydlo was walking around the block with his elderly mother and came across Martinez and his fiancée.
“We were walking around the alley again and Enrique said to my mom, ‘Hey, is that guy okay?’” Barzydlo said. “And I would say to his fiancée, ‘Hey, is that guy okay?'”
Martinez would help his father on his days off with what Barzydlo described as a taco party business — grunt work and cleanup, he recalled.
State Rep. Angelica Guerrero-Cuellar said the Martinez family asked her to tell Pritzker and Johnson they were not wanted at the funeral. While Pritzker’s chief of staff agreed to the request “without hesitation,” Guerrero-Guellar said Johnson’s chief of staff, Christina Pacione-Zayas, was “disrespectful and rude and did not understand the message I was trying to convey.”
She called Johnson and left a text message, but had not heard back as of Friday evening, she said.
“This is not about the mayor,” she said. “This is about the wishes of the family. In my opinion, the mayor is making it about himself.”
Earlier this year, Johnson was also warned to stay away from the funeral of another slain CPD officer and ultimately did not attend, Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza said.
