Washington, DC - It has come to our attention that John Catanzara, President of FOP Lodge #7 in Chicago, suggested in a media interview that the violent mob of rioters who attacked the U.S. Capitol Building on Wednesday, and caused the death of a brother officer—U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian D. Sicknick—and four other people, was understandable, peaceful and, except for trespassing, law-abiding.

To be absolutely clear, the comments made by the President of FOP Lodge #7 in Chicago do not represent the opinions of the National Fraternal Order of Police and its 356,000 members. There is no question that, in addition to the tragic loss of life, these criminals left a wide swath of damage in the building that is the heart of our democracy and threatened our elected officials, Congressional staff as well as our brother and sister officers.

The National FOP rejects this gross mischaracterization and sees the incident for what it was—a violent mob of looters and vandals, visiting fear and destruction on one of our nation’s most sacred spaces, who should be held accountable for their actions and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.