Evanston officials denounced on Monday what they said was an organized disruption of a city council meeting last Thursday by commenters who made antisemitic, racist, and hateful speeches.
“All of us were deeply troubled and shaken by this display, which has been particularly traumatic for our Jewish community,” said a statement signed by the city of Illinois’s top officials. “While we have no reason to believe that any of the individuals who did this are Evanston residents, it’s still extremely dangerous. The inextricably linked ideologies of antisemitism and white nationalism have fueled unimaginable violence and suffering, and history tells us that when rhetoric like this becomes commonplace, action is often not far behind.”
The Evanston officials said that they had done what they could to limit inappropriate behavior and were exploring legal options to protect the forum in the future. But they also said that they had to respect the free speech rights enumerated in the First Amendment.
At the beginning of the meeting, when it opened for public comment, a man wearing sunglasses and a cap requested all documents and communications between ADL and the council. He continued to argue that hate speech is protected under free speech before launching into a diatribe that was struck from the audio record.
“We have synagogues all over this city, and that’s where this practice happens at,” the man said in one snippet.
When the meeting took comments through Zoom, a woman calling herself “Catt LeCarr,” a pseudonym likely referring to cattle cars used to transport Jews during the Holocaust, said that in honor of Black History Month, she would like to tell the story of Mary Phagan. She proceeded to explain how Leo Frank, a Jewish man who was lynched in 1915 for the alleged murder of 13-year-old Phagan, was an evil man who blamed the crime on Jim Conley, whom many historians regard as the true culprit.
Another commenter, calling himself Andy O’Breen, said, “A ceasefire resolution isn’t far enough; it’s virtue signaling. We must boycott those that are advocating for the genocide of men, women, and children in Gaza.”
He continued: “We can be a Zionist-free world but it requires more than just a piece of paper. It requires activism and dedication and action. Boycott Zionists, sanction Israel; tell the colonizers they are not welcome.”
O’Breen went on to blame “Jewish Bolsheviks” for the Holodomor and said that the bible called the Jews devils.
Man says he saw "a rabbi crawl out of a sewer with blood on his face"
Chad Basewell, who had an obviously fake name, said there was an issue of public safety, citing “sightings near the Beth Emet Free Synagogue; I saw a rabbi crawl out of a sewer with blood on his face.”
Eva Rockwell, whose name was likely inspired by Nazi first lady Eva Braun and American Nazi party founder George Lincoln Rockwell, complained that the council wasn’t respecting free speech before calling another member of the panel by a derogatory term.
Following those comments, Council Member Devon Reid, who had worked for the ADL that year, said, “It’s undeniable that there is a coordinated effort to make those disgusting comments.”