A Cass County man brought his protest of Governor J.B. Prtizker’s stay at home order to Jacksonville on Sunday and was met with severe allegations and counter protests. Patrick Bell, manager of Cass County Meats, organized a “Freedom Cruise” through Jacksonville Sunday afternoon around 4PM. The rally gathered in the old Shopko parking lot and proceeded down Morton Avenue for about an hour with about forty vehicles ranging from motorcycles to a semi. About two dozen spectators gathered in community park to show support for the cruise.
Signs railing against the Pritzker Administration and showing support for President Donald Trump’s re-election were displayed on several vehicles along with American flags as well as one truck having a Confederate Flag among others. Two anti-protesters at the corner of Main and Morton Avenue called for the use of masks and accused the group of being affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan. Several comments have come into WLDS News’ Facebook page after the initial report with screenshots of Bell’s personal Facebook page depicting racist comments. Bell’s personal Facebook page and the Cass County Meats Business Facebook page have since been removed.
Bell held a rally in Virginia at the Cass County Courthouse two weeks ago where he burned a mask and denounced Pritzker’s closure of the state, calling it a violation of constitutional freedoms. The State of Illinois is set to go into Phase 3 of the Restore Illinois plan of Pritzker’s on Friday.