Stand Up Against Hate this Saturday in Crystal Lake

McHenry County NOW has asked that the Holiday Inn Chicago NW Crystal Lake Convention Center, an IHG Hotel, to cancel the Exposing Radical’s War on Kids event scheduled for February 25 beginning at 8:30 am.

Charlie Kirk, known for his racist and anti-LGBTQIA+ rhetoric, is scheduled as a guest speaker along with several other speakers who follow the same agenda.  Kirk is an activist and talk radio host. He founded Turning Point USA with Bill Montgomery in 2012 and has served as its executive director since. He is the CEO of several Turing Point affiliated groups and Students for Trump. He is also a member of the radical right Council for National Policy.

Hate peddler Charlie Kirk is the star attraction at the Saturday event at the Crystal Lake Holiday Inn.

The Saturday event is organized by the McHenry County GOPAC, a local conservative political action committee, which described it as an “all-day summit on rescuing children from government-run schools that are ruining America’s future.”

The protest against the event evokes a vigil at the same Holiday Inn location in 2008 against the hate group Illinois Minuteman Project organized by the Interfaith Council for Social Justice of McHenry County, the Latino Coalition, and others.  The Minuteman Project was promoting vigilante action against suspected “illegal immigrants” in Harvard and other local communities.  McHenry County leaders went on to win seats on the County Board and the McHenry County College Board, were an important cog in the far-right takeover of the of the McHenry County Republican Party, and former Minuteman leader Diane Evertsen was elected to a term as GOP County Chairman. 

The Illinois Minuteman Project held a meeting promoting anti-immigrant vigilantism at the same venue in 2008 drawing protestors to the site.

This new manifestation of organized hate could also have far reaching consequences.

McHenry County NOW has formally asked IHG Hotels and Resorts to do the right thing and stand with our community as we commit to educational efforts that combat the adverse effects of homophobia and racism, as well as stopping the villainization of our public educators.

Please also call the Holiday Inn, 815-477-7000, and voice your opposition to the hate and intolerance that this rally would bring to our county.   People are also asked to sign a petition to hotel management here.