The Chicago Police Department announced that regularly scheduled off days will be canceled from Friday through the weekend, with the police union saying it is in anticipation of the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
"All RDO (regular day off) personnel will be attired in the prescribed regulation field uniform of the day, including helmet, baton and yellow safety vest," reads an internal memo sent out by a sergeant on behalf of First Deputy Police Superintendent Eric Carter.
While the memo does not mention Kenosha, Wis., or Rittenhouse, Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara does so in his response where he accuses the city of violating a mediation settlement to give officers notice before canceling off days.
"This is clear violation of what we came to [agree upon]. There was no notice. They do not get to just keep saying, 'We need manpower just in case a verdict doesn't go positive' and, all the sudden, there's upheaval," Catanzara said in a video on the union's Facebook page.
"That's not the way this department needs to be [run]. But that's what happens when you put a hat in charge of doing the mayor's bidding in the second spot. And you know who I'm talking about," Catanzara said, referring to Carter. "It just doesn't stop with this guy. He is such a pathetic leader. I don't even know how he looks himself in the mirror."
A spokesman for the CPD said in a statement to Newsweek: "To enhance public safety and to address current crime patterns, all full-duty sworn members will have one regular day off canceled this upcoming weekend between November 12, 2021 through November 14, 2021."
Rittenhouse is on trial for killing two men and wounding another after shooting them during a Black Lives Matter protest in Kenosha after the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, which left him paralyzed.
The then-17-year-old Rittenhouse had traveled there from his home in Antioch, Ill., armed with a rifle, along with other civilians. He said he was there to offer medical assistance and fight fires.
Rittenhouse testified on Wednesday that he opened fire on the men with an AR-15-style rifle to protect himself after they ambushed and attacked him. Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, were killed. Gaige Grosskreutz was injured.
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