By now we all know the story of Garry McCarthy, the Chicago Police Commissioner who recently went on an anti-gun tirade at Father “Snuffy” Pfleger‘s St. Sebastina Chucrh:
McCarthy has a history, and it’s not exactly good. Take this article from the New York Times which details a previous arrest, and his being disciplined by the NYPD:
Mr. McCarthy does not come without some baggage. Some critics have described his demeanor as occasionally gruff, and there has been much talk in New York about a confrontation last year in which he was arrested by two officers with the Palisades Interstate Police at a gas station on the parkway.
In March, a judge fined him and his wife $200 each for blocking traffic with his police-issued vehicle while they argued with the officers, who had issued a summons to their 18-year-old daughter, who was driving another car. At the hearing, the officers testified that Mr. McCarthy had been drinking and that he used profanities during the confrontation, which started after his daughter parked in a handicapped zone.
In an interview last night, Mr. McCarthy was unapologetic about the incident, saying he was simply protecting his daughter. “I will stake my career and reputation against any of the people involved in the incident,†he said.
In 1983, Mr. McCarthy was disciplined by the New York Police Department for an incident in the Bronx on St. Patrick’s Day, during which he was off duty and drinking when he and his brother, then a state trooper, were confronted by a group of men with a growling dog on a leash. During the dispute, Mr. McCarthy gestured to his gun, he told officials at the time. Mr. McCarthy acknowledged that his conduct was inappropriate, but that it was accepted practice at the time. “That was 23 years ago,†he said. “I think the more important thing is that crime in New York is down 40 percent since I became deputy commissioner.â€
McCarthy was previous Police Commissioner for Newark, New Jersey, when the department was investigated by the feds for what the New York Times reports as “brutality, baseless searches, intimidation and false arrests.” Second City Cop reports that McCarthy and his brother were also allegedly shooting out streetlights and hurling racial slurs in the 46th precinct in New York City after they left a cop bar intoxicated. Here’s even more dirt on the guy.
This is someone we supposedly can trust with a gun, but the rest of us? Not to be trusted. This guy is a thug with a badge. I’d like to see those int he gun control movement try to justify this a**hole.
That church where the video was taken is not without controversy at least from a Catholic perspective. It was sounding like Father Pfleger had been suspended by the Cardinal for a little bit over the Cardinal getting ready to move him to another parish (which is pretty common in the Catholic Church to rotate priests to different parishes to avoid building up a cult of personalty), and apparently he was having an issue with the Cardinal over the move. For a while it sounded like he was going to leave the church, and I think now they have worked it out, but they haven’t really said where he is going. Here are a couple of blog posts about the issue back when they were occuring: http://popinainteasy.blogspot.com/2011/04/fr-pfleger-may-be-gone.html http://popinainteasy.blogspot.com/2011/04/fr-pflegers-chickens-have-come-home-to.html
Yeah, we’ve covered the history of Michael “Snuffy” Pfleger before, especially as it relates to firearms.
“That was 23 years ago,†he said.
Indeed–had it been now, he almost surely would have shot the dog! (c.f. every post ever at The Agitator)
Funny how other people with a gun are evil, but him using his gun to violate laws and threaten others, is acceptable simply because it was “23 years ago.”
In his logic, slavery and racist gun laws are totally cool because it was so many years ago?
And his habit of carrying while drunk… for some reason I think he’s also against CCW in a restaurant, unless, of course, he’s the only one carrying and drinking.
My blood was boiling when I heard his speech [and how he violates crime scene evidence by stepping on brass, in his dramatization], but it’s amazing how shameless and utterly lack of respect this guy has for himself.
I’m stunned. What a piece of dirt. A complete asshole.
My guess is that he’s got a good reason to oppose carrying in bars. He seems to like bullying in bars, and he doesn’t want his victims to be able to fight back. And BTW, if he’s anything like other cops who bully people in bars, it isn’t just a matter of having a bad temper. Most of these thugs single out smaller men with attractive dates, with the specific purpose of taking her away from him. Jim Moran is notorious for the same thing.