Approximately 75 people protested outside a hotel in Lincolnshire where Turning Point USA was holding its annual Educators’ Summit as protesters said the organization was promoting its “anti-education, anti-science philosophy.”
The Village of Lincolnshire said they are coordinating with regional public safety personnel as well as its partners at the Marriott Lincolnshire Resort to ensure a safe environment for residents, visitors and businesses amid an event by Turning Point USA at the resort.
The privately-organized event began on Tuesday and will run through Friday.
A peaceful demonstration publicly promoted as the “Turning Point Honk and Wave Protest” took place at the corner of Half Day Road and Milwaukee Avenue on Tuesday evening.
Northeast Lake County Indivisible, which organized the event, said they were demanding “Hands Off Our Schools!” as they protested from 5-7 p.m. Tuesday against Turning Point USA.
TPUSA is holding its fifth annual “Educators’ Summit” at the resort, according to its website.
Northeast Lake County Indivisible, which says they are part of the national effort behind the “No Kings” protests, called TPUSA’s Educators’ Summit a “white Christian nationalist effort to infiltrate public education in Illinois.”
“It’s important to understand that TPUSA was started and financed by dark money from wealthy conservative think-tanks and their donors. They want to use our public school to promote their anti-education, anti-science, anti-free thinking philosophy,” said Sheila Leahy, a leader with Northeast Lake County Indivisible.
“Along with many partner organizations, we have planned a peaceful way for like minded people to come together and demonstrate that Lake County rejects TurningPoint USA,” Leahy said.
“TPUSA wants teachers to keep the full facts of America’s history regarding racism, bigotry, and sexism out of our classrooms. We don’t want their controlling ideas about public education anywhere near our children and our schools,” says Katie Salyer, a mother of two school-aged children and a leader with Northeast Lake County Indivisible.
Village officials say the event remained peaceful with no reported incidents or arrests. Organizers say approximately 75 people attended the protest.
The village said they anticipate increased traffic volumes on Milwaukee Avenue and Half Day Road during peak arrival times for the summit. No road closures are anticipated.
“However, motorists may experience periodic delays entering and exiting Marriott Drive. The Village encourages drivers to allow extra travel time or consider alternate routes,” they said.
The village said it is not aware of any specific or credible threats related to the event and the Lincolnshire Police Department is working with resort staff to monitor attendance levels, parking impacts and any planned demonstrations.
“The department has coordinated with regional law enforcement partners to plan for the event and demonstration activity. Partner agencies are providing additional staffing to support traffic control, safety monitoring, and emergency response capabilities,” village officials said.
The Village of Lincolnshire said that peaceful demonstrations are a “valued part of civic participation” and acts of violence, vandalism, intimidation, trespassing or interference with public safety operations will not be tolerated.