Why Does FOP Boss John Catanzara Keep Talking About Nazi Germany?

CHICAGO — Some cops don't want City Hall forcing a coronavirus vaccine in their arm, or even asking about vaccination status. I get it. I think they're being ridiculous. But everybody's got an opinion — and the cops aren't alone. Firefighters and other union workers are suing the city to stop the jab mandate, too.

What baffles me is that while arguing against the city's jab mandate, Fraternal Order of Police president John Catanzara just can't stop himself from comparing the actions of a Black lesbian mayor's administration to Nazi Germany.

In August, Catanzara made his disgust of the mandate known by evoking images of the Holocaust. "This ain’t Nazi f------ Germany, [where they say], 'Step into the f------ showers. The pills won’t hurt you,'" he said.

The police union boss said he didn't think those comments, made to Sun-Times reporter Fran Spielman, would make the papers — and later issued an apology on YouTube.

MORE ON PATCH: Jewish Caucus Calls For Resignation Of Chicago Police Union Chief

“Those members of the Jewish community, in no way was I trying to tie forced vaccinations to the atrocities of the Holocaust, which is why I never used the word Holocaust," he said. "I should not have made the reference like I did to the showers, and for that I’m sorry.”

Sorry that he got caught seems closer to the truth — at least after Tuesday.

That's when Catanzara led a vaccine mandate protest outside police headquarters that drew "dozens" of protesters — but not the 1,000 he publicly called on to show up — out of a police force of about 12,000 sworn officers.

WBEZ reporter Patrick Smith's audio recorder picked up the police union boss chatting with supporters about increased security at headquarters, again with references to Hitler's regime.

"Can't even get past the lobby. It's literally, Nazi g--damn Germany," Catanzara said to supporters.

This from a cop on the cusp of being fired over accusations he expressed racially charged opinions, advocated for vigilante murder and made threats on social media.

He's facing a Police Board evidentiary hearing next month on charges of making false reports, incompetency, inattention to duty and 10 other rule violations that police Superintendent David Brown recommends should lead to his termination.

Catanzara's social media accounts have included references to Muslims as "savages they all deserve a bullet." In response to a news story posted online about a cop shot at Wayne State University, Catanzara wrote, "WTF it is seriously time to kill these m-----------s." He once ended an online argument with a foreboding warning: "Keep listening for that knock on your door."

Over his career, Catanzara has been accused of police misconduct 50 times, including five complaints regarding unlawful use of force and seven allegations of verbal abuse. He was suspended for 30 days for a domestic incident that, according to reports, included threatening a woman he dated and breaking into her house.

"If I lose my job I will get you, or I'll have someone else get you," Catanzara told her, according to an Office of Professional Standards report.

Yet, according to Catanzara's recent public displays of paranoia, it's Chicago's mayor who is the "tyrant at the top that needs to stop what she's doing."

Apparently, asking city employees to report whether they've been vaccinated against a pandemic virus that stole lives, closed schools and crippled economies around the world, is akin to the Holocaust.

To him, cops armed with a sign-in sheet at police headquarters is "literally" a Nazi checkpoint.

All this crazy talk increasingly makes Catanzara seem delusional, unhinged and, maybe — given his police misconduct record — dangerous.

It's time for a dose of reality: He's a union leader who couldn't get more than a few dozen people to show up at a protest Tuesday.

About 70 percent of Chicago cops have disregarded his call to action by abiding by City Hall's vaccination mandate that he didn't have the City Council support to revoke.

Still, Catanzara thinks he's got the political juice to oust aldermen and get elected Chicago's next mayor.

Wake up, John. There are no Nazis for you to overthrow at City Hall.

But it is interesting you talk about Nazis so much.

Mark Konkol, recipient of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for local reporting, wrote and produced the Peabody Award-winning series "Time: The Kalief Browder Story." He was a producer, writer and narrator for the "Chicagoland" docuseries on CNN and a consulting producer on the Showtime documentary "16 Shots."

Read More From Mark Konkol:

• Chicago Police Union Gets Hand From Madigan-Machine Ward Boss
• Portillo's Goes National But Best Beef Isn't Coming To Your Town
• Rahm Emanuel Shows He's No Ambassador Of Truth At Senate Hearing
• Chicago Cops Balking At Reporting Vaccination Status Have Rights
• Call In National Guard? Pandering Pritzker Plays Trump-Like Card