Chicago PD Cancels Days Off Ahead Of Rittenhouse Verdict

Chicago IL

10 November, 2021

6:33 PM

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CHICAGO, IL — Illinois teen Kyle Rittenhouse finished testifying in his Wisconsin homicide trial Wednesday, and as the case nears its end, Chicago police are bracing for possible unrest in the wake of the verdict. The department has canceled days off starting Friday and through the weekend, WGN reported. While a memo to staff announcing the cancellation does not mention the Rittenhouse trial, the head of the Fraternal Order of Police said it's the reason — in case the Illinois teen is acquitted. Rittenhouse faces multiple charges, including first-degree intentional homicide in the deaths of Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber. He also faces charges in connection with a third man who was shot and wounded, as well as weapons charges. Kyle Rittenhouse Takes Stand; Defense Asks For Mistrial In a video, Chicago police union president John Catanzara said the time-off cancellation violates a mediation settlement. "They do not get to just keep saying, 'We need manpower just in case a verdict doesn't go positive' and, all the sudden, there's upheaval," he said, according to ABC Chicago. Rittenhouse testified for hours Wednesday, at times breaking down in tears, and asserting he shot the three men in self-defense. The trial will continue Thursday, even after the defense requested a mistrial and the judge angrily admonished the prosecutor for lines of questioning he said were off-limits. Rittenhouse's trial is not the only high-profile case currently under way. Three men are being tried in the death of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia. The men are accused of attacking and killing the 25-year-old Black man, who was jogging in their neighborhood.