Parking tickets issued to mourners who abandoned their cars to participate in a fallen marine's funeral procession have been voided by the city, after Mayor Rahm Emanuel was reportedly enraged to hear they had been issued at all.
Marine Cpl. Connor Lowry, 24, of the Beverly neighborhood, was killed two weeks ago in Afghanistan, and a funeral procession in his honor weaved through the neighborhood to St. John Fisher Parish, CBS Chicago reports. Several drivers pulled over and exited their vehicles to participate in the procession, and cars parked illegally were issued citaitons.
Angry drivers took to Facebook and other platforms to complain about the tickets, and the city issued an apology, according to NBC Chicago:
"The City recognizes that these vehicles were parked temporarily under special circumstances to honor a fallen soldier. As soon as this was brought to the City’s attention, parking enforcement aides were instructed to stop immediately and complied with this directive," Kathleen Strand of the Department of Revenue said in a written statement, NBC reports, adding that tickets issued during the procession would be voided.
The tickets were reportedly invalidated at the request of Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who was furious when told of the city's mistake, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
"When this was brought to the mayor’s attention, he was livid and immediately ordered the Department of Revenue to rescind the tickets," mayoral spokeswoman Sarah Hamilton told the newspaper.