The Chicago Fraternal Order of Police threw its support Thursday behind Patrick O’Brien, the Republican candidate running to unseat embattled Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx.
“Yesterday was a historic day at Lodge 7,” said the Chicago FOP Lodge 7 in a statement. “We are proud to announce our endorsement and total support for Judge Pat O’Brien … For the first time the FOP is a real player in Chicago Politics.”
The police union said that its PAC had contributed the maximum of nearly $58,000 to the campaign of Mr. O’Brien, a former Cook County Circuit Court judge and prosecutor.
“We need a different direction for law and order in this city and Pat O’Brien is the guy to do it,” said Chicago FOP president John Catanzara told the Chicago Sun. “As much as Kim Foxx is not the person to do it, Pat O’Brien is. He’s gonna abide by the law and prosecute criminals.”
Elected Republicans are an endangered species in Chicago, but Mr. O’Brien, who has worked in both Democratic and Republican administrations, may benefit from voter dissatisfaction with Ms. Foxx’s lenient policies and the city’s skyrocketing homicide rate.
“We need a different direction for law and order in this city and Pat O’Brien is the guy to do it. As much as Kim Foxx is not the person to do it, Pat O’Brien is. He’s gonna abide by the law and prosecute criminals,” Catanzara said. https://t.co/V00SetQE1Z
— Chicago Sun-Times (@Suntimes) August 20, 2020
It’s a very sad day when our county’s top prosecutor shows more sympathy for criminals than she does for law-abiding residents. The @FOP7Chicago President hits the nail on the head w/ this statement on the failed polices of @SAKimFoxx. #FireKimFoxx #twillhttps://t.co/tbGYfMwDrB
— Judge Pat O’Brien (@OBrienforSA) August 16, 2020
Ms. Foxx, who was elected with an infusion of cash from a George Soros-funded PAC, was widely denounced last year for dropping 16 charges against then-“Empire” co-star Jussie Smollett stemming from his alleged staging of a hate crime.
A special prosecutor’s report released Tuesday found she had mishandled the case and committed potential ethics violations, but that her blunders fell short of criminal activity.
She has dismissed more than 25,000 felony charges, or 29.9%, in her first term, a rate 35% higher than that of her predecessor, according to an Aug. 10 Chicago Tribune analysis.
In a Wednesday op-ed, Ms. Foxx said it was time to “stop pointing fingers and solve this violence problem together.”
“These are extraordinary times,” she tweeted last week. “The way out of this is what we are doing, working in tandem with our city and federal partners to bring those who commit these acts to justice. While fighting to make sure the system is fair, just, and equitable for everyone.”
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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