After it had been announced that President Donald Trump would visit the city of Chicago for the first time in his presidency next Monday, Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson has confirmed that he will not attend the president’s speech, The Hill reports.
The president will be speaking at the International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference, and although Johnson confirmed through a spokesman that he would be attending several other events at the conference, he would not be attending President Trump’s speech.
Johnson’s spokesman, in justifying Johnson’s decision, said that “the values of the people of Chicago are more important to [Johnson] than anything that could be discussed at that speech.”
The occasion being President Trump’s first visit to Chicago is significant, after numerous exchanges between the president and city officials such as Mayor Rahm Emmanuel over the city’s widespread violence, sanctuary city status, and gun control.