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One week after Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4600 in McHenry hosted a show featuring Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes and several others, leadership at the post issued a statement saying it “opposes discrimination in any form.”
The VFW hosted McInnes and others, including stand-up comedian Josh Denny and radio personality Anthony Cumia, after two previous cancellations that day, first from Brauer House in Lombard and then at the Vixen in McHenry.
The VFW statement, signed by post Cmdr. Ben Keefe, said staff members were approached by a group who said a show they had scheduled had been canceled and as an organization that “strives to be a focal point for our community,” they decided to accommodate them at the post.
“As the event neared its conclusion, we discovered that some of the performers included individuals who have been known for conduct which does not align with the views of our organization,” the post said in the statement. “We hold strong to our values, which include ensuring the care of veterans and their families, respecting the diversity of our veteran community, and serving our community as a whole.”
McInnes, who also co-founded Vice Media, founded the Proud Boys in 2016, although he no longer is part of the group’s leadership. The Southern Poverty Law Center designated the Proud Boys a hate group. Proud Boys members describe the group as a politically incorrect men’s club for “Western chauvinists,” The Associated Press reported. They have brawled with antifascist activists at rallies and protests.
The post’s announcement followed a meeting Wednesday evening with both post and district leadership. While Keefe framed the event as a mistake that the post has moved past, several other members have expressed stronger concerns about how the decision to host McInnes will affect the reputation of the VFW and veterans overall.
“I am not happy at all,” John Decicco, senior vice commander for VFW District 5, which includes McHenry and Lake counties, said Monday before the meeting. “This is a huge deal, in my opinion. The Proud Boys were accused of an insurrection – these are not no-name people – and the founder was in our post. As a veteran walking into a VFW, I should feel prideful and proud of what I have done. This is a bad look.”
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Post 4600 Sr. Vice Cmdr. John Hrynkow said before Wednesday’s meeting that he found it “very odd” that someone would just show up and immediately be allowed to use the VFW’s hall for a performance, noting that often a security deposit is necessary to book the hall in advance.
“That is totally against the way we do things there,” Hrynkow said. “That’s what is baffling us. I don’t think you can just show up and say, ‘Do you mind if I bring in 150 people in the hall?’ I’m still livid over this.”
Decicco, who preceded Hrynkow as senior vice commander at Post 4600, said following rank in organizing or approving events has been an issue at the post, and he’d been “jumped over many times” in past decisions. In the post’s statement, it said it would be “working with our staff to remind and reinforce proper procedures.”
The stakes are higher than just who can perform at the VFW, but also how the post can perform its function as a community hub going forward, Hrynkow said, noting that the post is a polling location for the upcoming election day Nov. 8.
Hrynkow also listed several examples of positive contributions the VFW has made to the McHenry community, including donations to McHenry School District 15, the McHenry Township Fire Protection District and the McHenry Police Department.
“We try to do outreach as much as we can,” Hrynkow said. “It’s important we education our youth about who our veterans are, and it is important that the community supports us and we support the community.”