Indiana Recruits Chicago Police Officers Upset over Vaccine Mandate

U.S. Sen. Mike Braun will welcome any Chicago police officer looking to defy their city's vaccine mandate to the Hoosier State, the senator said in various tweets and news outlets.

"My office stands ready to help connect Chicago police officers to an Indiana police department that is hiring now and doesn't have a vaccine mandate," Braun told Fox News. "Welcome to Indiana!"

Chicago's police union and city hall have been locked in a feud over the city's vaccine mandate for weeks. Officers were supposed to report their vaccine status by last Friday, with the option of twice-weekly COVID-19 testing for the remainder of the year. Those who refuse to report are placed on a no-pay status.

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The city's Fraternal Order of Police President, John Catanzara, has argued the reporting violates officers' rights and openly encouraged members not to comply. A judge last Friday issued a temporary restraining order against him, prohibiting Catanzara from publicly encouraging members not to report vaccine statuses, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Braun, in a statement to Fox News, called Chicago's vaccine mandate a "government overreach" and encouraged any of Chicago's thousands of officers defying the mandate to head to Indiana.

"Our police do one of the hardest jobs in the world and they deserve respect — not heavy-handed mandates that will force them out of a job if they won't disclose their private medical information," Braun told IndyStar in a prepared statement.

The Chicago Police Department reported 21 officers were on no-pay status as of Tuesday afternoon for refusing to report, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Police Superintendent David Brown said leaders have processed "hundreds" of officers who decided to comply with the mandate since Monday, the Tribune reported. Almost 68% of department employees, including sworn officers and civilian employees, have entered their status.

Braun told IndyStar in April he has not been vaccinated, and emphasized individual choice in whether or not to get inoculated.

"I've been a believer all along, whether it's vaccines or what you do in terms of navigating through COVID, that it should rely on individual responsibility and doing what makes sense for you and the benefit of others," Braun said at the time.

When asked Wednesday by IndyStar about whether he's been vaccinated since, Braun did definitively not say.

"I believe my vaccination status and everyone else's is their own business, and one's job should not be dependent upon it," Braun said in a statement.

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