SPRINGFIELD – "Re-Open Illinois" – the organizers of recent protests against Governor JB Pritzker's ongoing COVID shelter-in-place executive orders – does not support any viewpoint that discriminates against Jewish people, they said in a press release Tuesday.
"That said, in response to the threat Re-Open Illinois protests pose to Illinois’ ruling class, the media has collaborated with Governor Pritzker and his allies to disingenuously attack those protesting their agenda," the group said.
"Those Pritzker allies include a liberal mouthpiece Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which is run by former Obama administration staffer Jonathan Greenblatt and Illinois’ House Republican Leader Jim Durkin, who has been accurately called a 'fake Republican' and 'corrupt insider' by conservative state representatives in his own caucus," they said.
The press release went on, "The most recent articles spinning Pritzker’s narrative attempt to paint Governor Pritzker and his—vacationing—family as victims, scared of angry mobs of white supremacists. The truth is that these protests are made up of Americans and Illinoisans of all kinds. White, black, Jewish, Christian, Republican, Democrat, you name it. The example of 'swastikas and pictures of Adolph Hitler' that reference 'me and my family,' in the words of Pritzker, references a sign at the May 16th protest in Springfield that one protester held that compared Pritzker to Hitler."
Re-Open Illinois does not try to control free speech, unlike the governor, they said.
"Every protester that has contributed in calling out Governor Pritzker’s lawless acts is responsible for themselves and Re-Open Illinois takes no responsibility for positive or negative contributions—or reactions."
Access to more information approved by Re-Open Illinois group about the May 16th protest in Springfield is available HERE, HERE and HERE.
