By Mark Weyermuller -
Several thousand people attended the funeral for Chicago Police Officer Ella French Thursday in Chicago. She was shot and killed two weeks ago while performing a traffic stop. Two suspects have been arrested and charged.
(All photos and video by Mark Weyermuller)
The service was held at Saint Rita Cascia Shrine Church at 7740 South Western Avenue in Chicago. Cardinal Blaise Cupich delivered a homily during the service. He raised some eyebrows while blaming “illegal guns” rather than blaming the offenders. Carlos Yanez, Senior also spoke at the funeral representing his son who remains in the hospital with serious injuries from the same tragic event.
In interviews, Yanez Senior has criticized Mayor Lori Lightfoot for an informal “stand down order” when officers are asked to not draw their guns unless completely necessary. He is now retired but indicated when he was a Chicago Police Officer, he drew his firearm daily.
This Chicago Sun Times headline says “Father of Wounded Slams Mayor on Police Reform.”
Mayor Lightfoot takes Communion during French funeral – CBS Chicago 2 photo
Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Police Superintendent David Brown attended the funeral but did not speak at the service. Those two, along with a couple of their staff, were the only ones wearing masks in this photo outside and presentation on the flag covering the casket to Officer French’s mother.
As a side note, the mayor has issued an “order” with a new indoor COVID mask mandate requiring masks as of Friday.
Inside the chapel, over 1000 attended the funeral with many more outside. Multiple people outside passed out in the extreme heat, triggering a quick response from the Chicago Fire Department.
I personally witnessed eight people being given assistance with some leaving in ambulances. After a while, a heavy rain occurred which brought the temperatures down. In addition, truckloads of water and Gatorade were brought in from Home Depot.
The bagpipers played "Amazing Grace" as thousands stood silent outside doing several hand salutes. Here is a short video I did which has now been seen over 15,000 times on Twitter. In addition, we just posted the video to the Illinois Review YouTube page. (See above or here: https://youtu.be/rDxLHrVJo70)
At the end of the ceremony over 1000 police vehicles escorted the body of Officer Ella French to her final resting place. Thousands lined the route as the procession went by. As a whole, the city mourns the loss of Ella French.
Mark Weyermuller is a small business person, retired real estate professional, police advocate, and conservative activist in Chicago. He is a citizen journalist, frequent guest on Chicago talk radio, and regular contributor to Illinois Review.
