Nick Richmond [Founder and Chair, Freedom Initiative Now]: We played ball… we masked our children for the entire school year…and the parents were devastated when the Governor [reversed his position and] …That really encouraged me to step up and push back…and [that became] literally hundreds of thousands of people who have been fighting [these statewide school masking orders].

Watch the “Public Affairs” show featuring Nick Richmond, Freedom Initiative Now:

-24/7 by clicking here:

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And airing on Cable this week (and next) in multiple areas (See this blog later in the week for this weekend’s and next week’s cable airing schedule):

(1) Throughout Chicago, Cable Ch. 21 (CAN TV):

–tonight 8:30 pm and midnight

 -tomorrow night, 9:03 pm(as the 1st segment of the Illinois Channel two-hour  package) 

(2) –In Aurora, Tonight, Wed and Sat, 6 pm on Aurora Community Television (ACTV-10)

(3) –In Rockford (and surrounding suburbs), Thursday, 8:30 pm, Cable Ch 17

A partial transcript of the February 23, 2022 Public Affairs show featuring Nick Richmond is included below:

Nick Richmond, Chair and Founder, Freedom Initiative Now: It wasn’t just my efforts, it was all those grass roots groups, like Illinois Patriots…There are many out there, Awake Illinois is another…all of these groups have collectively put in the work to get to where we are now…we are seeing the dam start to break, we have awakened enough people now to where it’s going viral. 

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Nick Richmond: We played ball… we masked our children for the entire school year…we shut our business down… we did everything we could to participate in thwarting this virus…and the parents were devastated [in the summer of 2021] when the Governor [reversed his position and] said…no change of heart, you are going to follow my orders [to mask all our school kids] or else…That really encouraged me to step up and start to push back against this…and [that became] literally hundreds of thousands of people who have been fighting [these governmental orders].

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Nick Richmond: Attorney Tom DeVore attended [our meeting in the northwest suburbs], Darren Bailey came, [Orland Park] Mayor Pekau came…and so we began educating people…and gave them motivation [to] not be afraid to use their voice…we had 140 people at the first event, then two weeks later we had 500 people…we put about a quarter of a million dollars of our own cash to get things started…and BTW when [this 4 year old girl] puts a mask on, she’s a totally different girl… she doesn’t talk, she doesn’t socialize, she clams up…

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 NIck Richmond: We followed the guidance of Tom DeVore [last summer]…We went to the school board meetings…we continued to rally people peacefully… making our point that we want optionality… these are our children…I recommended to parents they [draw a line in the sand] telling them this will go on forever if they don’t determine at which point they are willing to say “Enough is enough, I am done,” whether that is pulling their kids out [of their traditional schools] and putting them into a home schooling situation, getting them into a Christian Liberty Academy [type of] school- if you can find one that has room…and there are other options out there…

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Nick Richmond: My son now is at a great private school where masking Is optional. [Before making the move, I wondered] will I see a noticeable difference academically, socially, as a result of being in a school where he can see his teacher’s face, see his fellow classmate’s face, not be muzzled all day long and I saw that difference immediately: the level of math, reading, writing…it’s off the charts in just the short time that’s he’s been [at the new school without a mask]. I think it’s evidence that the masks do affect these children…

Richmond: It was just BS that [Governor Pritzker] was pulling out of thin air to justify what he was doing, so my answer to your question is no, there was no data or science [coming from the Governor to promote masking of the students in schools].   See here and here

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Jeff Berkowitz: Why is the Governor doing this? Why is he continuing to try to appeal to the IL Supreme Court to [try to] preserve his statewide school mask order… do the teachers’ unions’ have the Governor in the palm of their hands?

Richmond: Yes, you could say that. You could also point to the super-majorities in the legislative branch and how he’s rolled these powers for 700 days… and it was the legislature’s duty to deal with removing those powers and they didn’t.

Richmond: We have the State House [elections coming up] which is huge, 118 seats up for grabs; the IL Supreme Court, the Governor’s race, the IL Attorney General’s race, there’s four or five key races that we, the people, need to get involved in…how can you be upset about the outcome if you don’t actively participate…

Jeff Berkowitz: You have the statewide GOP ticket with some guidance and help from Ken Griffin who may get involved to the tune of $150 to $300 million. What do you think of Griffin’s involvement?

Richmond: I don’t know him personally…he’s made some big claims…but it’s how you spend the money and it’s the grass roots movement… that’s gonna make the difference for the people on the Republican ticket….  

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Nick Richmond: …one of the biggest threats that we face …is the… [People’s] willingness to be conditioned and controlled and if we allow that to continue …our liberties will continue to get chiseled away if we don’t get actively involved.