Former Chicago police Supt. Garry McCarthy wasn’t too impressed with how Mayor Rahm Emanuel handled his firing in December, apparently criticizing the mayor’s manhood — or lack thereof — in an email.
Emanuel announced McCarthy’s ouster on Dec. 1. Sixteen days later, Eileen Mitchell, the mayor’s chief of staff, emailed the former top cop a formal termination letter stating his last day on the job would be Dec. 31.
“Please let me know if you have any questions,” wrote Mitchell, who signed the termination letter, which was attached to the email.
McCarthy forwarded the message to his wife, attorney Kristin Barnette, with a cutting remark.
“He didn’t even have the balls to sign it himself,” McCarthy wrote, an apparent reference to Emanuel.
That was among hundreds of McCarthy’s city-account emails from November and December 2015 that City Hall released Tuesday in response to public records requests — the second batch of emails from the former superintendent made public in the past week.
Adam Collins, a spokesman for the mayor, pointed out that Emanuel met with McCarthy in person on Dec. 1 to tell him he was fired.
“With all the actual issues going on right now, the fact that you’re focusing on this is total nonsense,” Collins said in an email Tuesday. “Beyond that, it’s standard procedure for the chief of staff to sign termination letters, not the mayor.”
Emanuel forced McCarthy out in the wake of the release of a police dashcam video showing Officer Jason Van Dyke shooting Laquan McDonald 16 times as the 17-year-old appeared to be walking away from the cop, who is now facing murder charges in McDonald’s death.
The emails made public Tuesday also show how current and former city officials braced for the court-ordered release of the police video in November.
“For what it’s worth, from my remote perch, I was devastated to hear that you’re going to have to release that video,” Evelyn Diaz, president of the Heartland Alliance and former commissioner of the city’s Department of Family and Support Services, wrote to McCarthy and top aide Robert J. Tracy on Nov. 20, the day after a judge ordered the video be made public.
Tracy thanked her, adding, “We have a great city and we will show the country how to get through difficult times.”
After McCarthy’s firing, he received several emails of support from his command staff, including First Deputy Supt. John J. Escalante, who would go on to become interim superintendent. Escalante has since resumed his role as first deputy, after Emanuel named Eddie Johnson as McCarthy’s replacement.
“The last four-plus years has been a pleasure and we are all grateful this department was turned around in the right direction under a real Policeman. A street cop,” Escalante wrote to McCarthy.
On Dec. 3, police Cmdr. Barbara West — whom McCarthy had promoted to command first the 15th and then the 11th districts on the West Side — wrote to thank him for “all of the things you taught me about leadership.”
“It took me a few days to write this because I had to keep ‘The Face’ but now that I am alone I can shed my tears and say ‘I will miss you,’” West added.
“I only pray that what we’ve done as a team doesn’t get undone by the next person,” McCarthy responded.
Contributing: Tim Novak
