Racist Palos Township trustee Sharon Brannigan runs away from Arab constituents

Palos Hills, IL – On Sept. 11, hundreds of community members protested outside the Palos Township Board of Trustees meeting for the third month in a row to demand the resignation of racist trustee Sharon Brannigan. The protest was organized by Take On Hate, alongside local Chicagoland partners.

Brannigan has made several posts on social media demonizing the growing population of Arabs and Muslims in the southwest suburbs, most recently vilifying Middle Eastern students. Palos Township has one of the largest Arab populations in the state of Illinois, encompassing all or portions of Bridgeview, Hickory Hills, Orland Park, Palos Hills, Worth and Willow Springs.

After rallying outside, residents packed the township board room and exterior hallway spilling into the outdoor parking lot. More than a dozen community members spoke out against Brannigan and the board members, who many said they viewed as complicit for not pressuring their colleague to resign.

A non-resident who had signs that read “No ISIS in Palos”, “Illegal alien invaders out of our schools”, and “Brannigan stays” attempted to speak, but was forced to leave by residents who chanted for the racist get out.

Township Supervisor Colleen Schumann adjourned the meeting, in a failed attempt to quell the residents’ outrage. Community members followed Brannigan outside, chanting that she should resign. Brannigan, refusing to address any of her mostly Arab constituents, quickly ran to her car without as much as bothering to turn around.

Bassem Kawar of Take On Hate and the Arab American Action Network told Fight Back!, “We will continue mobilizing community members for every township meeting until Brannigan resigns, and have saturated the southwest suburbs with literature condemning Brannigan’s racist attacks.”

Take On Hate is asking all community members and supporters to continuously call the Palos Township office at 708-598-4418 and demand Brannigan’s immediate resignation. Sign the #ResignBrannigan petition here: bit.ly/ResignBrannigan