CHICAGO — Less than 24 hours after his office insisted that Mayor Brandon Johnson would attend Monday’s funeral for slain Chicago Police Officer Enrique Martinez despite the grieving family’s wishes, Johnson reversed course Saturday.
Johnson’s office now says the mayor will not attend.
“We all want to do right by Officer Martinez and give his family and the CPD family the space to grieve,” the mayor said Saturday, stating an obvious point that every decent human being would have known instantly.
Earlier this week, the head of CPD’s front-line police union, John Cantanzara, said Martinez’s family made it “very clear” that they do not want the mayor or governor to attend. While the governor quickly acknowledged and honored the request, Johnson bullheadedly insisted he would show up anyway as recently as Friday evening.
Johnson, his office said in a written statement, “will attend all honors funeral services for every police officer, firefighter, or EMT who loses their life in the line of duty.”
State Rep. Angelica Guerrero-Cuellar told ABC7 on Friday that she had personally delivered the family’s wishes to the governor and the mayor directly.
“Immediately, without hesitation, the governor respected the family’s wishes,” Guerrero-Cuellar told the news outlet. “I call the mayor directly. He did not answer. I sent a text message clearly stating what the family’s wishes were… I still have not heard a response.”
She told the Chicago Tribune that Johnson’s chief of staff, Christina Pacione-Zayas, “disrespectfully and rudely did not understand the message I was trying to deliver.”
Upon hearing that Johnson reversed course on Saturday, Bryan Zarou, vice president of policy at the Better Government Association, tweeted, “Why can’t the Mayors office ever be ahead of the most obvious decision making there is. Countless times have they had to retract decisions they’ve made within 48 hours. This is the second time with a funeral.”
