Mayor Brandon Johnson reversed course Saturday and announced he will not attend a slain cop’s funeral after the officer’s family told him to stay away.
Johnson’s office had said Friday he would go to the funeral for Officer Enrique Martinez, despite protests from the police union president who said he would not be welcome.
Martinez was shot and killed Monday during a traffic stop in Chatham.
“I heard from the family and am honoring their request and will no longer plan to attend the honors funeral services,” Johnson said in a Saturday statement.
“This has been an emotional two weeks for the loved ones of Officer Martinez, the Chicago Police Department, and the city of Chicago. We all want to do right by Officer Martinez and give his family and the CPD family space to grieve. The focus must remain on Officer Martinez, his loved ones, and the CPD as our city continues to honor his ultimate sacrifice and legacy of service.”
Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7 President John Catanzara and a Southwest Side state representative have been blasting the mayor, saying his presence at the service would be disrespectful.
On Friday, Johnson spokesperson Erin Connelly said Johnson attends all honors funerals for first responders killed in the line of duty, saying “our prayers and deepest sympathy are with the Martinez family and Officer Martinez’s beloved fiancé.”
“Mayor Johnson will attend honors funeral services and celebration of life for Chicago Police Officer Enrique Martinez,” Connelly wrote Friday. “These official honor 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 environment in Chicago in which the progressive mayor has faced criticism over law enforcement issues and frequently butted heads with Catanzara.
In a YouTube video posted Monday, Catanzara said Johnson was not welcome and would be a “piece of garbage” if he attended.
“Mayor Johnson and Gov. Pritzker were both informed that the family’s wishes were they did not attend those services,” Catanzara said. “Governor Pritzker rightly immediately acknowledged that and said he would not attend and honor those family’s wishes. Mayor Johnson did not.”
George Barzydlo, a friend of the family who lived nearby, said those sentiments were true. The 65-year-old spoke on behalf of Martinez’ family and fiancee at a Friday night press conference outside the Chicago Lawn Police District headquarters, asking Johnson not to attend the funeral.
“They definitely do not want the mayor at any of the functions for anything,” he said, adding that his attendance would be a distraction.
Barzydlo said he and Martinez had a joking relationship. Barzydlo would walk his elderly mother around the block, and he’d run into Martinez and his fiancee.
“We’d circle back around the alley, and Enrique would say to my mother, ‘hey, are you okay with that guy?,’” Barzydlo said. “And I would say to his fiancee, ‘Hey, are you OK with that guy?’”
Martinez would help his father with what Barzydlo described as a taco party business on his days off – grunt work and cleanup, he recalled.
State Rep. Angelica Guerrero-Cuellar said the Martinez family had asked her to tell Pritzker and Johnson that 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, “disrespectfully and rudely did not understand the message I was trying to deliver.”
She called Johnson and left him a text message but had not heard back as of Friday night, she said.
“This is not about the mayor,” she said. “This is about the family’s wishes. The mayor, in my opinion, is making it about himself.”
Earlier this year, Johnson was also warned to stay away from another slain CPD officer’s funeral and ultimately did not attend, according to Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza.
