The members of Evanston’s City Council were stunned last week when individuals expressing antisemitic sentiments took over the public comment section of the council’s regularly scheduled meeting, generally a time to discuss pressing civic issues in a suburb with its share of financial problems.
According to the news outlet Evanston Now, which covered the meeting, a man who attended the meeting in person, dressed in a ballcap and sunglasses, shared the view that hate speech is protected under the Constitution and Jewish people control the media and the government. A speaker on Zoom referenced a local synagogue, fantasizing that rabbis had come out of nearby sewers “with blood on their faces.”
The Evanston Roundtable reported that the mayor, after scanning the virtual queue for others who had signed up to comment, concluded that they intended to offer more of the same. Also, yet more of these charmers reportedly were following the meeting and posting messages on 4chan, a notorious “fringe” web portal. At least one person involved in the incident claimed to live in Evanston, but the origins of these commenters were, of course, unclear.
The members of the City Council were understandably caught off guard, and it took awhile for Mayor Daniel Biss and others to figure out what to do in terms of protecting speech versus shutting off comment. They certainly had the right to do the latter: Council rules prohibit “threatening, personal or abusive language.”
Since then, Evanston churches and other community stakeholders have been reaffirming their commitment to showing tolerance and speaking out. But Jewish residents of Evanston have good reason to feel beleaguered and attacked from different political sides. We should all stand with them, whatever our political views.
This page has always stood for open government, and, for decades, we’ve been on the side of the public and news media having as much access as possible to ask questions of and keep an eye on elected officials. We have argued against new restrictions on the public at Chicago City Council meetings. We maintain those positions — while noting that there need to be safeguards to protect everyone’s rights.
The practice of what’s known as “Zoom bombing” a public meeting is pernicious, and it’s increasing. On Monday night, the same thing appeared to happen again, with more individuals using the City Council portal for disingenuous public comments.
Alas, Americans appear to be less and less able to participate with civility in their own democracy; we fear a further decline as we get closer to the fall election season.
This reality is unspeakably depressing and only gives ammunition to those in government who’d rather operate in the shadows.
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