Evanston, Illinois is a very liberal community just north of Chicago. I moved into Evanston in 1973 after leaving Washington, D.C. For more than a decade I raised a young family there. I participated in the civic affairs of the community – forming a bi-racial Evanston Coalition with my good friend Hecky Powell – the Black owner of the finest ribs joint in town. I ran for city council – but was spared the necessity of serving by the voters. I was a tad too conservative for the political culture.
As with many very left-wing communities, Evanstonians thrive on arrogance and an air of superiority. They viewed themselves to be the most civic of the civic minded. I recall when the Evanston city council passed a measure declaring the community a “Nuclear Free Zone.” Imagine that, a small suburb with a foreign policy. “Nuclear Free” yard signs popped up like crocus on a warm spring day. I wonder if the generals in Moscow took Evanston off of any contingency nuclear attack plans. (I have to admit, however, that Evanston never suffered a nuclear attack.)
Of course, the City Council passed unconstitutional anti-gun laws – declaring Evanston a “Gun Free Zone. (I wonder why they never made Evanston a “Drug Free Zone.” I guess we can surmise the answer to that one.)
Well … it seems like the anal retentive, overly zealous citizens of Evanston now have found a new cause to sate their civic addiction. They are taking on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). It seems that ICE is pursuing illegal aliens and other criminals in the sanctuary city of Evanston. (Oh yeah! That too.) Like all radical left-wingers, Evanstonians love to create common bonds with the criminal class – especially when they suit their political agenda.
The city council declared Evanston and “ICE Free Zone”. Federal law enforcement agents are no longer welcome in the Independent Republic of Evanston (IRE). That move by the council has no more enforcement authority than the council’s previous “Nuclear free zone”. But it does give the residents a false sense of accomplishment and a reason to beat their civic chests.
To implement their edict, the citizens have organized citizen groups armed with whistles and cell phones. Whenever one of the overzealous Chicken Little residents sees ICE agents, they blow their whistles to alert the community – and use the cell phones to communicate and photograph. Citizens run around in a tither — taping instructional sheets to lamp posts, trees and fences ostensibly explaining the rights of those facing arrest and deportation. (I see the making of a very funny movie here – theater of the absurd).
Of course, to get this level of civic juices flowing, there has to be some great emergency and urgency. In the absence of a real emergency, they simply engage in concocted fearmongering. They speak of “living in terror.” They rush kids inside – or refuse to let them go outside – over fantastical dangers. After all, if you are going to do all this craziness, you have to justify it somehow.
What the good citizens of Evanston are doing is aiding and abetting the criminals – and interfering with law enforcement – sometimes physically. What they are doing is illegal – although they call it peaceful protest. In fact, they are aiding and abetting criminals. They have no way of knowing if the arrestee is a wife beater, a rapist or a murderer – and they do not care.
Let us look at one example. A woman in a red car was chasing an ICE vehicle and rammed it. When agents attempted to arrest her, she resisted. She was pushed to the ground and cuffed. But not before other folks attempted to interfere with the arrest. She had attacked law enforcement officers, but the good folks of Evanston do not care. In fact, they condone attacks on law enforcement – they celebrate them.
Of the hundreds of almost daily attacks on ICE, Border Patrol and local police, this was not a big incident. But the reaction of those interviewed by the press was characteristic. According to witnesses, the ICE vehicle caused the accident by stopping too fast. And the young lady was “brutally dragged” from her car – after disobeying police orders to exit the vehicle. As for all the rest of the people in the melee, they were just concerned citizens — “peaceful protestors.” Among the organizing groups is the Evanston-based Pink Poster Club (pictured atop this commentary).
It is not just a matter of a few left-wing radicals. The city’s political leadership is all in. Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss has called federal agents an “invasion from our own federal government,” and has encouraged residents to unite and take to the streets to create “ICE-free zones” and resist intimidation by federal agents. He has ordered federal agents out of town – as if the city is not part of America. Biss is just short of calling Evanston an independent anonymous zone — as did the crazies in Portland, Oregon during the earlier “occupation” craze.
There are a lot of good people in Evanston. We had wonderful neighbors and friends. But the overarching culture is defined by the far left tweedy set – fueled more by political bias and pompous arrogance than objective civility.
In the big picture, the action in Evanston will have little impact. It is what I call civic masturbation. It makes them feel good without producing any tangible results. But it is great entertainment.
So, there ‘tis.