Residents To Rally for Palos Twp. Trustee's Dismissal Over 'Anti-Muslim' Facebook Posts

PALOS, IL — Palos residents and activists are planning to rally before Monday’s meeting of the Palos Township Board over views expressed by a trustee on her Facebook pages construed as being anti-Muslim. Some residents are calling for the dismissal of Sharon Brannigan, a one-time Republican congressional candidate and an elected Palos Township trustee since 2013.

Palos Township supports one of the largest Arab-American communities in United States, including all or parts of Bridgeview, Hickory Hills, Orland Park, Palos Heights, Palos Hills, Palos Park, Willow Springs and Worth.

"We want to make it clear that hate filled rhetoric will not be tolerated in our community,” Tammy Georgiouin, director of Southwest Suburban Activists, which is helping to organize the rally, said in a news release. “These elected officials are responsible for representing everyone in Palos Township.”

A post reportedly made by Brannigan on her official Palos Township trustee Facebook page questioned what Palos planned to do about what she perceived as the growing number of Middle Eastern students enrolled in the township’s public schools.

“What’s Palos doing? Why are all our schools filling with Middle Eastern students without proper documentation? What is Dan Lipinski 3rd District Rep doing about it?” the post read.

Dan Lipinski is the Democratic congressman and Brannigan’s political foe in the 2014 congressional election. The comments appear with a link to a news story from the conservative news site Townhall, following last month’s vote by the U.S. House’s vote to defund sanctuary cities.

The post has since been removed, as has Brannigan’s Facebook pages after public outcry and complaints by activists and Arab-American residents. Activists claim to have unearthed more social media posts reportedly made by the trustee. Around May 20, Brannigan commented on Donald Trump’s first trip overseas to the Middle East as president. Many complained her remarks mocked Arab- American women who wear the hijab and their faith for not being dignified.

“Watching President Trump and family this morning I am so proud that they represent us! Am particularly proud that our women are not wearing the headscarves. WE AMERICAN WOMEN ARE REPRESENTED WITH DIGNITY.”

In another long-winded Facebook rant dated Jan. 26, 2015, Brannigan spoke of her avoidance of films made by wealthy Hollywood liberals with the exception of “American Sniper” by Clint Eastwood, who infamously debated an empty chair at the 2012 GOP convention.

“In the 3rd District here in Illinois, our demographics include 25% Muslims of which very few integrate within the communities keeping themselves and their activities hidden from the general population. Everywhere you turn, from Orland Park to Bridgeview, those numbers are increasing leaps and bounds. We are allowing these people whether they have peaceful intentions or not into our country without question.”

Ahlam Jbara, whose 17-year-old daughter and friends were subjected to an anti-Muslim tirade by a patron at a Hickory Hills restaurant, said Brannigan’s rhetoric directed at young people in the community is creating animosity between Muslims and non-Muslims.

“For elected leaders to use hate language instead of trying to bring the community together, she’s creating more hatred and attention that allows for others in the community feel the same way,” said Jbara, an independent consultant who works with the Arab and Muslim immigrant communities. “What happened to my daughter and her friends is a component of the local, state and national hate mongering endorsed by some political and elected officials.”

Brannigan says she has no intention of resigning from her elected position as a Palos Township trustee. She plans to read a statement about her social media commentary at Monday’s township board meeting.

“As a trustee, it is my responsibility to be diligent, especially in light of Illinois’s budget that was recently passed,” Brannigan said in an email to Patch. “All statements on my personal pages of social media reflect the observations I have had living in this district for 25 years and in the 3rd congressional district for 55 years. I believe that questioning our government is our responsibility even if the issues at hand are sensitive in nature.”

“I support all of President Trump’s travel restrictions, especially the most recent held up by the Supreme Court of the United States,” she added.

The rally is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. Monday, July 10, with the board meeting following at 7 p.m. at the Palos Township Office, 10802 S. Roberts Road, Palos Hills. Patch will be covering the rally live on Palos Patch Facebook.