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SCENES FROM THE RALLY
CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ OCTOBER 2020 37
Lodge 7 President John Catanzara with Indiana FOP President Bill Owens- by.
submitted, as the vigil to wait for Trump’s arrival commenced. “It will definitely be memorable, to say the least.”
Catanzara presented a Trump campaign official with a patch to give the president. By now, it is likely included in his collec- tion of law enforcement artifacts that he proudly displays, pre- sumably somewhere near the Oval Office.
Catanzara also brought a bevy of Lodge 7 challenge coins to offer other FOP members, Trump campaign staffers and even the president himself, should the opportunity arise. With the way FOP members were seated in bleachers 50 feet or so from the podium, there were pre-rally thoughts that the entire mem- bership would accompany National President Pat Yoes on stage to present the endorsement.
So the anticipation ran thick, emboldened by more “back the blue” chants that intermittently rippled through the crowd with the force of a wave enveloping fans at Soldier Field during a Bears game. Some rally-goers also wore masks broadcasting “MAGA,” not just as a face-covering, but as face time for what’s in the air for law enforcement.
“We know the silent majority is out there. There’s no doubt,” Catanzara confirmed. “The terms black and white get thrown around a lot, especially in this election cycle. And I will say this election is about black and white. It’s about law and order or chaos and mayhem. And there’s no doubt who stands for which side of that equation.”
Appreciation
Black and white – and blue – on this day. If Catanzara had a challenge coin for every person who stopped the Lodge 7 group to say, “Thank you for your service,” he could have enough to last a lifetime.
As they approached the security lines to go through the han- gar that backdropped the rally, Flores, Gorman and Noceda were stopped by a woman who wanted to express her admira- tion. She told them about her son, who was on with the Raleigh, North Carolina, PD before moving over to work for NCIS.
It was a day for that kind of appreciation and camaraderie. It was a day for Lodge 7 to see and hear support that would have been great to bottle up and bring back home to Chicago.
“It was nice to see people waving at you with all their fingers and not just one,” Flores quipped.
National FOP leaders came from across the country to be part of this moment. And it’s not an easy commute. There are not a lot of direct flights into Harrisburg Regional.
Indiana FOP President Bill Owensby made the eight-hour drive with his contingent because of how Trump has ensured
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