A Geneva-based conservative group successfully scrambled Tuesday to find a venue for guest speaker Elmer Stewart Rhodes III, who was convicted of seditious conspiracy in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The Three Headed Eagle Alliance finally found a place for Rhodes to speak – at Greater Grace Community Church in Elgin, a nondenominational evangelical church on the city’s west side.
Rhodes was convicted of seditious conspiracy in the planning of the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. His sentence was commuted by President Donald Trump.
Rhodes was scheduled to speak about Jan. 6, his 18-year prison sentence and his experience in prison – including a year in solitary confinement.
It almost didn’t happen because three venues canceled – but by Tuesday evening, Rhodes spoke to a packed church.
A member of the Three Headed Eagles denied a reporter entry into the sanctuary to hear Rhodes or take photos.
Rhodes founded the Oath Keepers, many of whose members participated in the Jan. 6 attack. The Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti Defamation League describe Oath Keepers as extremists.
When the Three Headed Eagle Alliance announced Rhodes as their September speaker – they host a speaker every month – protests started.
We Can Lead Change Fox Valley and Fox Valley Activists collected more than 1,000 signatures in an online petition asking the original venue, Eagle Brook Country Club in Geneva, not to allow Rhodes as a guest speaker.
Air Force veteran and Kane County resident Jen Hall organized pickets at the golf course against Rhodes’s planned appearance.
Neither the country club nor its parent company Arcis Golf, based in Texas, answered voicemail or email messages. But the Three Headed Eagle Alliance announced on its website Sept. 4 that Rhodes would not speak at Eagle Brook.
The group said it would announce a new venue the morning of the event, which turned out to be St. Andrews Golf and Country Club in West Chicago.
A later announcement from the Three Headed Eagle Alliance stated the venue was changed again to Sky Banquets, also in West Chicago.
That fell through as well.
Opponents had been encouraged on social media to call and email the venues about Rhodes’s Jan. 6 notoriety.
In an email Tuesday, Susan Dixon, a co-founder of the alliance and current vice chair, stated: “We are not in a position to comment right now.”
An email from Dixon that apparently went to group members and ticket holders Tuesday, obtained by the Kane County Chronicle, stated: “URGENT! PINTS & POLITICS NEW BANQUET VENUE CANCELLED BY THE LEFT VERMIN.”
Under the heading, “CANCEL CULTURE STRIKES AGAIN,” she notified those who bought tickets that the Rhodes speech wouldn’t happen.
“We are sorry to report that we are unable to bring you Stewart Rhodes tonight due to interference by the left who seem to have a stranglehold on the area venues,” according to the email. “Our hope was that good people could hear the facts from Mr. Rhodes. Please stay tuned for further information about him and his ordeal.”
Dixon’s email also cautioned members not to contact or blame the banquet owner who “had to take security measures. We must be over the target!”
Later, the group announced the church as the new location.
At 7 p.m. Tuesday, the church’s lot was full, cars were still pulling up and parking on the grass and residential side streets nearby were lined with cars. The church’s windows showed full rows in the sanctuary as Rhodes spoke.
The Three Headed Eagle Alliance will have Rhodes’ comments recorded for broadcast on its website, said a member of the group who was guarding the door.
On the Three Headed Eagle Alliance website, the group’s chairwoman, Debbie Kanarowski, posted a message, entitled “CANCEL CULTURE ARRIVES IN OUR BACKYARD.”
“On behalf of Three Headed Eagle Alliance, I would like to thank everyone who supported us this past week as we fought against the cancel culture and defended our 1st Amendment right- Freedom of Speech,” Karnarowski posted.
“On January 6, 2020, Stewart Rhodes supported President Trump by publicly stating that the 2020 Election was fraudulent,” according to her post.
“He became a political prisoner because he was well known and the left did not like what he stood for. As a reminder, Stewart did not go into the Capitol, he spoke and yet received an 18 year sentence in jail,” according to her post. “Stewart deserves to be given the opportunity to speak to tell his story. I hope you will join us on September 23 at Pints and Politics to listen to Stewart Rhodes’ story.”
In his speech, among other topics, Rhodes reiterated his claims that the 2020 election was stolen. He also urged the declassification of government documents that would “let the people see who are the pedophiles in both parties.”