Note: This story has been updated from its previous version to reflect correct information.
GLEN ELLYN, Ill. (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Glen Ellyn parents are demanding that something be done about anti-mask protestors, who they said are harassing students and parents each day before school at Forest Glen Elementary.
The parents spoke during a meeting of the village board. Some said they’ve become human shields to protect their children from the abuse.
Karen Daley goes there to protect the kids.
"Becoming a human shield, so that the children and the parents, who are walking to school, don't have to see the poor behavior of the adults behind me holding signs that say - basically calling the children slaves. One gentleman likes to say 'Heil Hitler' or call the children 'Hitler youth.' It's offensive," she said.
"It is preferable to respect personal expression for the common good, but not all speech is common or good."
Scott Fisher added that "a woman on the protest line inched as close as she could the the edge of the grass and was yelling at my wife and two neighbor parents that they were engaged in child abuse, they were suffocating their children. Then she shifted focus to Leonora and her best friend, two little girls in their first month of real school, and she yelled at them, 'you are the youth of Hitler.'"
Terry Hurley is another parent.
"It's the actual verbal harassment, not just of the adults and parents, who are merely taking their children to school, but actually of the children themselves," he said. "Kindergarteners being equated to 'Hitler youth' to me is not civil discourse."
He said his wife and kids have been videotaped by the protestors being harassed and mocked. The video was then posted on social media.
Parents said it’s a disaster waiting to happen, not only because drivers are distracted as kids are walking to school, but the protestors are abusive, causing the children mental distress.
Contrary to an earlier report saying former Republican State Representative Jeanne Ives is an organizer of the protests, according to a statement from her advocacy organization Breakthrough Illinois, “Mrs. Ives is not the organizer of the Glen Ellyn Event.” In an email to WBBM Newsradio, the President of Breakthrough Illinois goes on to say, “Mrs. Ives only attends the protest once a week in support.”
WBBM Newsradio regrets this error.
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