President Trump slammed Chicago’s police superintendent for skipping his speech in protest at the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference in the city.
“There is one person that’s not here today. I said, ‘Where is he, I want to talk to him.’ In fact, more than anyone else, this person should be here because maybe he could learn something. And that’s the superintendent of Chicago, police chief Eddie Johnson,” the president said in the Windy City.
“A few days ago, Johnson said, quote, ‘The values of the people of Chicago are more important than anything President Trump could have decided.’ I don’t think so. Because it’s a very insulting statement,” Trump told the crowd, who’d been fired up as “Macho Man” blared from the McCormick Place ballroom speakers just before he spoke.
“After all I’ve done, and I’ve done more than any other president. Here’s a man that could not bother to show up for a meeting of police chiefs, the most respected people, in his hometown. And with the president of the United States.”
“And you know why, it’s because he’s not doing his job. Last year, 565 people were murdered in Chicago. Since Eddie Johnson has been policing, more than 1,500 people have been murdered in Chicago and 13,067 people have been shot. During the first weekend of August 2019, seven people were murdered.”
He also pointed to Chicago’s tough gun laws, asserting that they did no good, though most weapons police confiscate are purchased elsewhere.
“Chicago has the toughest gun laws in the United States. That doesn’t seem to be working too well. A lot of you people know exactly what I mean. But under Johnson’s leadership, they certainly don’t protect people,” Trump said.
Johnson told Chicago’s ABC-TV affiliate Sunday that he would boycott the event out of respect for Chicago’s “core values as a city.”
“I have to take into account, not just my personal feelings about it, but our core values as a city,” said Johnson, a veteran African American cop who was named superintendent in April 2016.
“We are nothing without trust and with some of our communities under siege. It just doesn’t line up with our city’s core values along with my personal values,” he said.
The president has harshly criticized Chicago in the past, and spent more than 20 minutes excoriating Johnson for, among other things, supporting sanctuary cities.
“Police officers of Chicago are entitled to a police superintendent who has their back. You’re entitled to a police superintendent who sides with you, with the people [of] Chicago, and with the families of Chicago, not the criminals and gang members that are here illegally,” he declared.
“I want Eddie Johnson to change his values and change them fast,” the president said in remarks that were cheered by the law enforcement officers in the room.
He also slammed the assembled media, suggesting that they don’t appreciate law enforcement like other Americans do.
“You don’t hear it enough. You do an incredible job. People of this country love you and you don’t hear that. They love you. You don’t hear it from the fake news. The fake news doesn’t like talking about that but [Americans] love you,” he said, adding that he would always back law enforcement.
“Every day of my presidency, I will be your greatest and most loyal champion. I have been and I will be,” he said, before praising the Second Amendment, which drew another loud cheer from the assembled officials, as did his call for the death penalty for cop-killers.
The president also signed an executive order establishing a commission to improve police training and recruitment and law enforcement policies.