Chicagoland Arab protest demands white supremist leave office

Chicago, IL – On July 8, 150 people rallied outside of the Palos Township in the southwest suburbs of Chicago on the two-year anniversary of the #ResignBrannigan campaign, a campaign demanding the resignation of racist and white supremacist trustee Sharon Brannigan.

The Arab-led campaign, which takes place in the heart of one of the most concentrated Arab communities in the nation, has been a historic one. Over the past two years, the #ResignBrannigan coalition has mobilized hundreds of Arab community members and youth to rally at the Palos Township monthly meetings, and participate in different actions to increase the pressure on Sharon Brannigan. The southwest suburbs Arab community has never had such a militant and organized campaign as the #ResignBrannigan effort.

To intimidate the protesters, Sharon Brannigan has more than once invited members of ACT for America, the largest anti-Muslim hate group in the country, to the meetings. She has called the police multiple times on the protesters, has called them “violent mobs,” and had five community leaders arrested at the June 2019 township meeting. Since the beginning of this campaign, the rest of the board of trustees have been silent on Brannigan’s racism and refused to put forward a censure resolution, the least that they can do. Instead, they have constantly attempted to silence the protesters by cutting the public comment time and putting a velvet rope between the crowd and the township council.

At the two-year anniversary rally, the #ResignBrannigan coalition has made it clear that they will not stop their demand of a resignation, and that white supremacy must be confronted by any means necessary. They showed that the community is organized and will not be intimidated by any arrests, and that they have the backing of dozens of community-based organizations in the township and other Chicagoland areas.