On Friday, protestors swarmed the Thompson Center in Chicago to voice their anger with Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s shutdown of Illinois, which is to last through May. Naturally, other activists who don’t care that others are financially struggling also showed up. They included a nurse (employed, of course) who took a picture which supposedly showed Illinois Nazis at the rally.

A group called Freedom Movement USA organized the event. Some of the protestors waved flags, others carried signs that read “The cure is worse than the disease,” and “We demand Illinois reopens now.” But this being Democrat-to-the-bone Chicago, counter protestors also showed up. They drove by in their vehicles, honking horns and waving signs that said “Trump/Pence: greatest threat to humanity.”

Yeah, I would say Xi Jinping holds that title right now, wouldn’t you?

But amidst that crowd of protestors was one woman who carried a sign that was, well, let’s say not a good look for the movement. It read, Arbeit Macht Frei JB, a jab at J.B. Pritzker. The words, as we know, translate to Work sets you free, and was a slogan at Nazi concentration camps.

What makes this even more cringeworthy is that IL Gov. J.B. Pritzker is Jewish.

So naturally, a progressive activist zeroed in the sign and posted it to Twitter, alluding that the protestors aligned with Nazi ideology. Of course the tweet went viral.

This was one of the signs at the “Re-open Illinois” event today. She assured those that she was not a Nazi, and stated, “I have Jewish friends.” Thank you for representing yourself and your “movement” for what it is. pic.twitter.com/CcIX2SVu6s

— Dennis Kosuth, RN (@Dennis_Kosuth) May 1, 2020

Even the Associated Press couldn’t believe the sign. An AP fact check wrote that poster Dennis Kosuth had “manipulated” or “fabricated” an image that a photographer took in Pittsburgh.

“The sign actually stated “Free small business!” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette photographer Andrew Rush posted the image to Twitter on April 20.”

Except that’s not true, as you can see from Rush’s tweet from the Pittsburgh rally. The image shows a different woman holding a different sign, standing in a car sunroof.

Hundreds of protestors outside the City County Building in Pittsburgh supporting the opening of non-life sustaining businesses pic.twitter.com/BobJhx1XYv

— Andrew Rush (@andrewrush) April 20, 2020

Because of the woman’s sign and Dennis Kosuth’s tweet, “Illinois Nazis” trended at Twitter, posted mainly by people born after the release of the 1980 film “The Blues Brothers,” which featured comic neo-Nazis. (Yes, “Blues Brothers” is a favorite of mine. Don’t judge me.)

https://twitter.com/snowgall/status/1256525139803504640

But let’s find out about “Dennis Kosuth, RN,” the intrepid activist who bravely went into the den of Illinois Nazis, shall we?

At Twitter, Kosuth describes himself as “A registered nurse who fights for racial equity, social justice, and believes that another world is possible.” That tells us a lot, doesn’t it?

Looking at Kosuth’s Facebook page, we see that he’s a labor activist who rails against “medical apartheid and systemic healthcare inequities:”

“The profit motive must be completely de-linked from healthcare, and particular attention must be paid to endemic disparities.”

Kosuth apparently likes scholarly words. He must’ve learned them as a student at  the Malcolm X College nursing school.

And one more thing: Kosuth despises the U.S. military and their “war planes.” He probably sees them as worse than Illinois Nazis.

Screenshot: Dennis Kosuth Facebook page.

Let’s be honest here: the woman’s sign was reprehensible. And yes, I know there are people who will say “she was a plant,” “fake protestor,” yada, yada. Well, if they have proof, I would like to see it. But since I’m an Ockham’s Razor kind of girl, I’ll stick with the most obvious: the woman is an obnoxious, tone-deaf idiot. She did nothing to promote the welfare of people who are afraid of losing their livelihoods and their homes. Those good folks would welcome a thoughtful, incremental reopening of the Illinois economy — an economy, by the way, that was already in the toilet prior to the pandemic.

But Dennis Kosuth — whom, as I noted above, is working — showed his true colors, and they’re not exactly red, white, and blue. Where’s this nurse’s compassion for people who have lost their livelihoods? Or don’t those people count in his world? After all, they appeared to be . . . mostly white. They wouldn’t fit into his dream of “another world” that is “possible.” Because they’re all Illinois Nazis or something.

The unnamed woman with the Nazi sign and Dennis Kosuth, RN: a pox on both their houses.

Featured image: wikimedia commons/altered and cropped/public domain.