Local News
Onalaska mayor weighs in on cancelled anti-Muslim presentation at OmniCenter
An anti-muslim presentation scheduled for the OmniCenter on Friday night was cancelled.
The group, Understanding the Threat (UTT), had planned on holding a talk at the facility, to apparently warn about the threat of Islam to the U.S.
Onalaska Mayor Joe Chilsen, Friday evening on WIZM, confirmed the group did indeed cancel the event. Chilsen said it did not have the proper umbrella insurance coverage for the event. He said all events must have at least $1 million policy in place. The group provided proof of insurance on the day of the event, and the city said it was lacking.
Understanding the Threat had been on a five-stop tour across Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa but also cancelled events in both Green Bay and Waukesha.
“We didn’t do the cancelling,” Chilsen said. “That’s why these are different than the ones over in Green Bay and Waukesha. Over there, the venues cancelled. Here, UTT cancelled.”
Chilsen, however, did make it clear that he wasn’t happy about the event taking place but said he had no choice.
“I learned a lot about the First Amendment today,” Chilsen said.
Chilsen said had the group had the right policies in order, it would have held the event. There was also a potential issue about paying four officers for five hours of work but Chilsen said it never got to that, simply because of the insurance.
Leading up to the event, an organized online response by Shoulder to Shoulder-La Crosse was set to bring dozens to the OmniCenter dressed in white to protest.
The group apparently called on the OmniCenter to cancel the 6 p.m. presentation by UTT, which been on a five-stop tour across Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa.
John Guandolo, founder of the group has, at times, accused local Muslim leaders of being part of the Muslim Brotherhood and has also said mosques are not protected by the First Amendment.
The presentation in Onalaska by Guandolo’s group was to feature Chris Gaubatz, who claims to have gone undercover to gather proof of the link between Council on American Islamic Relations and Hamas.
The events with the same group Saturday were cancelled for different reasons.
Brannon Howse, with the group, wrote on Facebook, “Hotel in Pewaukee told me even their website was hacked. They said they have never seen anything like this and have never cancelled a group.
“Folks, it is over. The Marxists and Muslims are winning and when America has no more freedom Americans will only have themselves to blame.”
He then said the group will rely on TV and radio “back home” and asked people to send checks to Collierville, Tenn., to, apparently, recoup the costs of the cancelled events.
Craig A. Olson
April 6, 2018 at 10:09 pm
It’s just a little too coincidental that all these events were canceled at three different venues. Many are afraid of Muslims and afraid of healthy discussions about our liberty as well.
Craig A. Olson
April 6, 2018 at 10:13 pm
It’s just a little too coincidental that all these events were canceled at three different venues. Many are afraid of Muslims and afraid of healthy discussions about our liberty as well.
Doug
April 7, 2018 at 12:46 am
Really, headline that this is a group who are anti Muslim. Please do your homework. These guys train Law enforcement and clear minded Government officials. One speaker, Chris , has testified before the Pentagon Justice department of his findings. Jeff Sessions and the others and the rest. If they thought he was a fool or hater, do you think they would have let him speak in Washington in 2016, during the Obama administration…? The other guy, John, is a Navy guy, has received merit for his part of working for FBI Counter-terrorism and in our Homeland Security in the Pentagon. Men with strong backbones, something we don’t see much of anymore. They know some truths that protesters don’t want the world to hear. CAIR is bad news, Muslims who truly want peace ,and others need to steer clear of them. CAIR was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the terror-finance trial against the Holy Land Foundation and its former officials. They have connections to Hamas. Calling these guys Anti Muslim is trying to categorize them into a people group in order to discredit and make them go away. This routine is getting old. Not anti-Muslim, but “Anti-bad ideas for America”. Onalaska area people had a rare chance to see something raw, true, and unedited. The Mayor appears to have a team of Lawyers to help him, as he put it not wanting to have hate speech in the area, he personally did not want it. He claimed that the speakers did not have enough Insurance for their event at Omni. Also, he claims that he was going to require that the presenters pay for 4 officers for the event. The Speakers foundation is non profit, not always a lot of money to be able to write checks for unexpected things, the Mayor and his lawyer crooks know this. Something is fishy here, the Mayor has no right to act as the moral police for citizens. He needs to do his homework and recognize what strong, unafraid Americans do for this country, as these 2 speakers have. Mayor makes Onalaska look like Podunk America, backwoods, where the citizens are not at all like this. Antifa (they hit people with bike locks and burn and break things) , Southern Poverty Law Center, and CAIR are out in full force to make sure certain truths are not exposed, squashing a chance of having Diversity of thought. They are the real problem. Stand strong Americans, show your spine.
Doug
April 11, 2018 at 4:59 pm
I have heard these guys at Understanding the Threat speak in person and on thier radio broadcast for a while now. Due diligence proves that while in fact the topic
of Jihad, is contorversial. Could you imagine, the day after the 911 Twin Towers Islamic Terorist attack on Americans, that someone would tell you that we would see a day we were told to not talk about people with bad ideas. Does talking about MS13 gangs equal Anti Hispanic hate speech ? Does talking about Chicago gang viloence equal hate speech against African Americans ? Of course not, not all Hispanics are MS13 gang members nor are all African Americans are in violent gangs.
These speakers talk about how to identify Jihadhis. Guandolo’s qualifications are immense having work in the Pentagon in Homeland Security and Counterterrorism. Americans are not stupid,they do not want anyone telling them how to think. They do not appreciate any groups telling them “there is nothing to see her, just keep going” So oppositionists try to create a narrative, weakly, by blurting out claims of hate speech. After the Twin Towers attack, America was somewhat paralyzed, headed to Church in great numbers in attempt to understand and get right with God. Americans also looked for answers on the news. Fast forward 15 + years. Since that time it has become a war of narratives. The Marxist Leftist ideology is doing what thier instruction book says, to shut down voices of opposition to thier goal of destroying America from within. Jihad ideology is the same, destroying the “Big Satan”, America, by its own (freedoms) and own hands.So the Marxists try to Demonize, marginalize, and devalue opposition, and as Antifa, an Urban terrorist organization promotes, “we need to shut them down”. If this is not a cocktail for Civil unrest than you are asleep. Interfaith groups are being found to line up with Marxist ideology. Where are these groups when high profile people such as Louis Farrakan speak in public like he did in Chicago in front of thousands February 2018 saying “the powerful Jews are my enemy.” “White folks are going down” ? Noticing some Interfaith groups, CAIR (Council on American Islamic Relation), and others not denounce over the top racists as Farrakhan shows is suspicious and suggests that these groups have a common goal. Guandolo and Chris Gaubatz claim that Congressman Keith Ellison out of Minnesota is involved at some level with Jihadis. There are actual photos of these two together in the same photo, so it does beg the question of the relationship it would seem. There is something big to hear it seems, and as people with conservative messages try to present the truth narrative, others will try to shut down the conversation.