A 2015 post Brannigan wrote about the movie “American Sniper” makes reference to “Barack Hussein Obama,” asserts that area Muslims fail to integrate into the community and criticizes Lipinski for not stemming the growing tide of Middle Eastern immigration into the United States.
“Everywhere you turn, from Orland Park to Bridgeview, those numbers are increasing in leaps and bounds,” she wrote. “We are allowing these people whether they have peaceful intentions or not into our country without question.”
More than 100 activists rallied Monday outside Palos Township offices to condemn Brannigan’s remarks and demand her immediate resignation.
She has since taken down her Facebook page, but has not apologized for her comments and said Monday that she would not resign.
Brannigan could not immediately be reached for comment on Wednesday, but said previously that her recent Facebook comment about local schools filling with undocumented Middle Eastern immigrants was intended to bring awareness to the community’s growing tax burden.
She has defended her comments by citing her First Amendment right to free speech, and said she fully supported “hardworking immigrants who contribute their fair share to our society and township.”
Cook County Commissioner Sean M. Morrison, who appointed Brannigan to the county’s Commission on Women’s Issues in May 2016, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Brannigan’s term on the commission ends next May.
