CHICAGO: Emanuel thanks Chicago PD for keeping peace at Trump protest.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel commended the city’s police department Friday night for its commitment to protecting citizens during protests at a Chicago rally for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

“I want to thank the men and women of the Chicago Police Department for their hard work tonight in unexpected circumstances, and their continued commitment to protecting people’s first amendment rights,” Emanuel said in a statement.

The embattled mayor has himself faced protests in the Windy City since October, when the city released video of an officer-involved shooting of a black man.

Residents have called for the mayor’s resignation, but he refused to step down in the wake of a Justice Department investigation into the city’s handling of multiple police shootings.

Perhaps some of the focus on Trump was displacement, by activists who haven’t been able to get rid of Rahm.