Latest / Breaking The Meta / Demi Palecek: National Guard Member Defying Orders to Protect Her Community | Illinois Rep Candidate
Transcript
- Breaking The Meta: Everything has been so intense and people feel the need to help. Last month we had like 150 volunteers. Wow. Yeah, was a, I started crying there too. Yeah, I bet. I never cry unless it's like a happy cry. ⁓ Hello everyone and welcome to Breaking the Meta. name is Mike Winslet and today we are sitting down with Demi Pelochuk and she is running for Illinois State Representative District 13. Hello Demi, how are you doing today? Hi, I'm as good as we can be right now under this regime. I've been, how are you? ⁓ You know, the same, the absolute same. ⁓ The news that is coming in is wild and I feel like every day it's one of those things where I feel bad about laughing at the crazy things that he's saying, but if I don't laugh, I might cry about it. Everyone's like, what is your platform? I'm like, I don't know. It grows every single day. And then they understand, you know? And like when you ask how people are, like, it kind of, can gauge where they, when they're like, I'm what? And you're like, yeah, no, me too. Yep. For everyone watching this, especially if you are in Illinois, your elections are coming up soon. So make sure whether you are in Demi's district or not, you are getting out and voting if you haven't voted in early elections already. I want to make sure I say that because that's extremely important for everyone in that district. let's just start off with who are you and why did you decide to run in the first place? Yeah. Thank you so much. I'm Demi Palachuk running for 13 district state representative. live, which is in Chicago. I'm not originally from Chicago. I'm originally from Southern Illinois. My mom is from Mexico ⁓ and she struggled with schizophrenia and bipolar and also racism in Southern Illinois trying to get her papers. And then my dad was in Vietnam. He was much older and ⁓ struggled with alcoholism due to that. And at an early age, I had to start helping my family. So I would walk. over to this bar next to my house and wash dishes. And I just remember being like, this sucks. And I'm like, little, what happens when I get older? Like, is it better? ⁓ And it really never got better, honestly, for working class people. No, really didn't. No, yeah. It's how I ended up in the military. ⁓ I was a recruiter's dream recruit. They told me that they would pay for my school and I would travel. And I was like, ⁓ wait, that sounds amazing. ⁓ Sign me up for 30 years, let's go. And that didn't also happen. So that was my pathway out of poverty. My first enlistment, I was assaulted and the military actually helped him become a police officer on the civilian side and they kicked me out. And so I went home and regrouped for a while and I was like, well, I can't go to school for a couple of months. What am I going to do? So I came to Chicago and it opened up. just a whole world of things I'd never seen in my small hometown, right? And yeah, mean, it's been, you know, a lot of people come to Chicago because it's like our safe space. Like a lot of us like run away. And I reenlisted in the Army National Guard, which is insane, to be over sexual harassment, equal opportunity. And then the last couple of years, I would fight for trans soldiers as well, which I'm sure you and your viewers know that we've lost all of those protections under the. And in my time in the military, I was activated to January 6th. And currently I'm one of the two members in the entire nation speaking out against ICE and the administration. So under investigation, ⁓ spicy times right now, but I believe it looks too much like Germany in the 20s, 30s and 40s. And again, I remember being little, like I would have done everything I can for those people. My family is Mexican. half Mexican. So I hate what is happening to our country. ⁓ And yeah, like I said, I'm working class and it's never gotten easier. How many of us have, you my friends make earrings, they knit scarves. ⁓ I still bartend on the side to make it. And I think that's unacceptable. And how disconnected our elected officials are from what is happening on the ground. ⁓ And I was just over it. And my current Representative went to go run for Congress, which that seat was held by ⁓ Congressman Jan Schakowsky. And I think she sat in that for about 20 years. So this is a, know, full lifetime position. So I was like, we actually need a real fighter, a real person, a real working class person to go down to Springfield and fight for our state. So what kind of things for the people that you go and you talk to around ⁓ your district, what are the kind of things that people, what are those pain points that people have? What are the people that people talk that, what are the things that people talk to you about most? My district is so diverse. ⁓ We are known for the discrepancy and the poorest and some of the richest in the city. So depends on what neighborhood I'm in. But the things I can say that everyone is worried about is our democracy. ⁓ If we have any left, obviously. going have an election. If they go to the polls, is the National Guard going to be there? ICE, as a community, we've definitely rallied and that is beautiful for me to see. ⁓ I do a lot of events, ⁓ rapid response, or we'll make food for people who are in housing, go pick up their medicine, go do their laundry for anything like that. So that's been beautiful to see. And I live in Uptown, which is known for a couple of crises, so mental health and housing. And so that's like our number one thing. That's my number one thing. I was just priced out of my last apartment by a thousand dollars. I think that is disgusting and should be. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. And we have no regulations on it. Pro rent control, pro rent stability. That should be unacceptable. So obviously there are, even though most people consider Illinois to be a blue state. also know that there are problems in Illinois, ⁓ one of which is that it's also gerrymandered to hell. What kind of things, once you get past the primaries and win in the general election and then are finally sworn in, what are the kind of things that you want to go to Springfield and fight for first? What are your top priorities? Like I said earlier, it's always being added. I don't know if you saw in Illinois, know, Illinois is such a safe place. Like I said, I am grateful to live in Illinois. know, like reproductive freedom here. We really fight hard. Right now to get an abortion, it's about three to four weeks out. Like there's a waiting list because all the surrounding states are coming. And I, I volunteer at a couple abortion clinics or reproductive rights clinics, whatever. And. Usually people don't want to talk there. It's not a fun day. It's not fun, right? But this last couple weeks, people wanted to talk and I think the stress of everything. And it was this girl's first airplane ride ever. And unfortunately, it was to get an abortion. So a couple people from her church have brought the money together. Like this is, you scary. And as safe Illinois is, a senator put in a bill last week to make it illegal for any person to get an abortion for any reason and they would get the death penalty. So that is, that is scary. We are a safe place, but we have to keep up those protections. Yeah. Also housing. We have a huge housing crisis. Even with the VA loan, I don't think I'm ever going to be able to buy a home. Like that's so insane. Seems so far-fetched, right? For not just me, but everyone. So that's something I want to work on. I love gun violence prevention initiatives. I am currently working on the Rifle Act right now, which is gun violence prevention, but would also put money back in the taxpayer's pocket. So about $1,800 per taxpayer, and we'd be holding the four surrounding states accountable for the weapons that we get from those states. Hopefully like holding, you know, how bartenders are held liable if a client gets a DUI under their watch or malpractice. Same thing goes there. So we did not agree for those states to bring their weapons here and cause that. I mean, can talk about things for days, LGBT rights, ⁓ food. I'm very big into food insecurity. when I grew up, you know, we didn't know sometimes where we were going to get food from. So I have a box in uptown that I'm trying to prove that we deserve a bigger box, like a refrigerator, a love fridge, essentially. But, know, I hate that people have to depend on that. It should not be this hard. Yeah. It's. It's very interesting. And again, for people listening, although it wouldn't for all the people on the right, I want to talk about the gun violence thing for a second, because obviously that's been a big issue right today. Well, technically it was yesterday. It was in the news where there was a shooting in Virginia and members of the ROTC in that school actually are the ones that that say that protected the school, which was just amazing to hear and absolutely horrible that that had to happen and they had to do it. ⁓ Big cities or states even like Illinois, you look at a lot of the issue is not the gun rules in that city. It really is the gun rules around. And that's the case in almost every area where there's problems ⁓ in big cities. Yeah, exactly. And I mean, being in the military, you know, everyone wants to tell me about weapons and I'm like, ⁓ I'm trained on like 20 something and I have little ribbons to prove I'm really good at it too. So don't even start. It's crazy. Yeah. So it's just hypocrisy, of course. I don't, obviously, Chicago tends to lean very blue, but there are Republicans, there are conservatives in every district, everywhere. What has been your experience, especially after everything that's gone on in Chicago with things like ICE, but in this country with things like the tariffs and Venezuela and Greenland and now what's going on in Iran? What has been your experience interacting with people who have been historically conservative after everything that's gone on? ⁓ I mean, I think that they are very silent right now. ⁓ I think it's like they're pretty divided. Either they're very silent and they're like, ⁓ my God, did I make a mistake? Which is totally fine to make a mistake and to come back from and apologize. ⁓ And then the others are like, no, we need this war. They're just sticking their heels in. ⁓ I went to a Republican house the other day for door knocking. And I'm like, you know, usually my hook to make sure they don't close the door on me is I'm one of the two National Guard members speaking out because it was on like ⁓ several large news publications, like a lot of people seen it, a lot of death threats came from it. And usually people are like, ⁓ wait, I did see that or ⁓ wait, I heard that, whatever. And they're like, no, you need to be working with ICE. And then I'm just like, and then it, you know, when like the customer doesn't say what you think they're gonna say, and then you get shocked. I'm like, ⁓ no, I said I'm not going to work with them. And they're like, that's disgusting. And I was like, okay. And then you just realize like they're never going to vote for you. That's not your voter. And you're like, okay, have a good day. Let me go talk to people who, you know, we do mind. But I haven't, there would be one or two Trump signs around. I haven't seen any, anything. For, if you're, if you're able and willing to, for people that may not know. what you're talking about when you're saying you're one of the two national guardsmen that's speaking out. Would you let people know what happened in that whole situation? Yeah. So I always forget how it happened. ⁓ As I started running for office, I would take any media I could. as Trump started activating soldiers, I had already said, I'm not going, I'm not activating against my community. The military has used the Hispanic communities for decades and get papers and green cards and visas for decades as a recruiting tactic. Yeah. And as a Mexican, I was like, this is vile. And I was very outspoken about it online or to my soldiers or to leadership, whatever. And News Nation, I think, had seen a post and it invited me in. yeah, we were talking and she... went there and was like, so you're saying you would tell the president no. And I got annoyed and I was like, absolutely. What do you mean? And we kind of went back and forth. And when I was done with the interview, I hop off and like my phone is like insane and my camp is like, do you know what you said? And I was like, no. And he, you know, I obviously did, but ⁓ he's like, all right, well, we're going, you know. This was the start of it. So then from there, everyone was calling, wanted to hear me say it. And so we went on NBC, ABC, anything, because I think that soldiers should be speaking out right now. ⁓ We have a lot of rules against us that we are not allowed to be. ⁓ And they're really outdated. Like they're trying to get us in trouble right now and they're just grasping at straws. The rules that I signed on to were, yeah, I won't wear my political button in my uniform and I won't wear my uniform to go protest. So everything that they're using and that Pete Hegseth is using is not accurate, but good try or good luck. He knows me by name and hates me and hates Dylan Blaha as well, because we're the only two. I mean, I get a lot of death threats from MAGA, but a lot of soldiers like, thank you, I can't do that. Like we're waiting on paperwork or thank you. Like my family depends on my income. So that's like what keeps me going or soldiers that are scared calling. figuring out what to do with their families and hiding. And like I said, it just looks too much like Germany in the 20s, 30s, 40s that we have to be strong right now. Yeah. I've been seeing a lot more, especially with the war in Iran, a lot more interactions and almost ⁓ areas of conflict with veterans, because there are some that are in that mindset that if the president says, go, you go, And there is no reason you should ever be saying no. And then there are others are saying, I would say no. it's, it's, it's been wild seeing the different, the different, groups because, know, prices are going up. So you're seeing different groups going at each other, like starting there's, you're starting to see that battle of people. And now it's really hitting the veterans area right now. I think, you know, we're still. of an age that we saw what Afghanistan and Iraq did to our friends and did to our family. That those of us now are like, I'm not going to die for oil again. And you know, how educated we are, it's, yes, there's still a lot of propaganda, but we're able to have, you know, independent journalists that we're able to learn more from. I think that, you know, we're more aware. It's not just so patriotic to just go die for rich people's oil, right, or die for Israel. I think we're much more in tuned with that. And if anything, I mean, I'll give a shout out to about face ⁓ or veterans for peace. Like when you see that and you see what's happening and know that you're a pawn, like a political token for rich people, it turns you very left. ⁓ Even my right wing people that I've served with. They're like, ⁓ you're a dirty socialist. And I was like, look at your outfit, babe. Like, look how we're paid. This is the biggest socialist program in the country. It is. You know? So we should all be socialist. That's how we have insurance and school. Yeah. Only the whole country had that. of the things that I love to ask people, and I think it really falls in, especially nowadays more than ever, is this idea of accountability or the lack thereof that we have that we that we have had in in our politicians across the board, whether state, federal, left, right, it doesn't matter. There's a feeling of a lack of accountability. What what does accountability look like to you? And what does what does being held accountable by the people of District 13 look like? Yeah, I mean, that's a great question. I have said multiple times, like I do want to be held accountable. are, things are always changing. ⁓ you know, things are always going to continue to happen. And I grew up a certain way and I've grown a lot since then, like from Southern Illinois, a very red town to, the activism I do now, ⁓ there was a lot of learning and unlearning. ⁓ yeah. And if I ever misstep, like I want to know if I ever need to learn something or, or something that I don't know of a country I, I didn't know something about. Please tell me and I love learning. think it's so interesting. And obviously I don't ever want to cause harm. The other day, I'm endorsed by lot of Muslim and Palestinian groups and I posted a song and I was like, this is the perfect song for this. And someone immediately was like, hey, that guy actually like hates every person that's semi tan and like says all this evil rhetoric and this, I have no idea. I'm like, thank you, deleting it right now. know, things like that. I think are very important ⁓ in calling our elected officials that we already have in office accountable for voting against trans people, voting against reproductive voting to say thank you to ICE. At that point, you're not really in our party. You you're so centrist. And I don't think that being a centrist is how we're going to get out of fascism. No. ⁓ I also think the thing that will finally get us out is if we can ⁓ really end up working our way out of identity politics. Voting for any party just because they have a D or an R next to their name is probably the worst thing that you can possibly do. Right. Even in my election, like there's five Democrats. But if you look into how we have voted or what we stand for or money we've taken, to our Republican period, you know? I don't care who you've worked for, what name has endorsed you, like how you act now in your campaign is how you will act as an elected official. And those are some of red flags for me, you know? Yeah. Yeah. So for anyone that has has listened all the way up until this point and heard everything that you talked about, What are one or two things that no matter what you'd want to make sure that they know about you and your campaign? We are grassroots. We are solely grassroots. I don't take any dark money. I don't believe in that. I don't take corporate money. That is why I am supported and endorsed by leaders we deserve. David Hogg's ⁓ organization PAC. Essentially, he helps fundraise good progressive candidates who will actually take a stand. So, yeah. So that is very important to me. My opponents are taking Facebook meta Mark Zuckerberg money, Raff King's money. I think it's like 300 and something thousand now. For a state seat? Yeah. That's wild. Yes. Yes. Because, and if anyone doesn't know, my district starts in the middle of Wrigley Stadium. Like literally I get the bleachers, so the cool side. Then it goes up north to uptown where I am Andersonville, Ravenswood. Bridgewater a little bit, ⁓ Lincoln Square, whatever, the North side of Chicago. But we do have slot machines and then we have a DraftKings in Wrigleyville. So they need, they want him to vote the way they want him to vote. I will never vote that way. I will, I am accountable to my constituents and my neighbors, not to donors. So yeah, so he's taking that money. He just went negative on me the other day. So it's been exciting that I am their threat. Hey. Yeah. Everyone was like, congrats. This is cool. You know you've made it when you are being, when they're making, when they're making ads about you. Yeah. Yeah. And then the other opponent is taking, what is it? Housing, private housing, like lobbyist money. Okay. Yeah. So I'm pro housing. I think we need more housing and affordable housing and true affordable housing. taking this money means that he would not. ⁓ So yeah, and then other establishment money that I also would not take. So those are important. So yeah, if you're in the area, would love if you want to come, we have a final push with Planned Parenthood this weekend and David Hogg is going to come on Monday and he'll be with me all election day running around. ⁓ And yeah, I mean, right now, think of how disconnected everyone in elected offices from us. And I am a normal person. I'm a normal working class person who's had to fight my entire life to make sure that I have my rent paid. And that's how we should be surviving. That is very much my district. And we need someone who will actually have a backbone ⁓ and fight for us to have a better future. ⁓ know, everyone wants to say that they'll fight Trump, they'll fight ICE. I've been at Broadview for the last year. physically fighting ice. Like they've punched me in the face, hit me with batons, shot at me. We need like people to actually put their bodies on the line right now, because this is very serious. Yeah, absolutely. If anyone does want to learn more about you or volunteer or donate, where can they find you? Demi for Illinois. So like Demi Moore, D-E-M-I for Illinois.com or all my socials are Demi for Illinois. Our Instagram is fun. That's my favorite. But yeah, we do a lot of mutual aid events as well. I'll show you right over there is all the stuff we're going to be bringing to the senior. Yeah. So our seniors in assisted living only have 30 to $52 to survive on the entire month. That's like buying toilet paper, medicine, shampoo, soap. They told me that they try and save a dollar. and give it to this one lady at the end of the month and she buys them catfish. And then she's been hiding cooking utensils under her bed. And then at the end of the month, she buys catfish and fries it for all of them. And that's what they look forward to. And I left like hysterically sobbing. So that's how that happened. And then for the last couple of years, I've been doing sandwich for solidarity. I fundraise small dollars and then go to college. And then we literally make sandwiches. When it started, I have like eight volunteers. as you know, everything has been so intense and people feel the need to help. ⁓ Last month we had like 150 volunteers. Wow. Yeah, it was, I started crying there too. Yeah, I bet. I never cry unless it's like a happy cry. And we were able to have so many ⁓ different things to do. So like whatever you love. So like we had a writing cards to seniors table. We had a clothing drive table that people were sorting ⁓ socks and blankets to make sure people had things. What else? ⁓ we made whistle kits also to send to Ohio and Alabama and everywhere else that needs them right now. So we did a thousand whistle kits. ⁓ And then we made the sandwiches, of course. And then other people were able to drive the sandwiches for rapid response, people who are unhiding. So just been doing the work on the ground for a really long time. And I mean, if I've been doing it as a normal citizen, like think of all the cool things we can be doing if I was elected. You know, could branch this out all over the state and country. Absolutely. ⁓ Demi, thank you so much for sitting down with us and letting us get to know you and what you hope to do for your district. That's amazing. Thank you so much for having me and everyone for listening. Yeah. And for everyone listening has gotten this far, thank you so much. Please hit all those buttons down below. makes it possible for me to keep doing what I'm doing, which is interviewing amazing people like Demi. who want to do things the way we keep saying they want it done. We keep saying, we don't want people to take PAC money. We want people to fix the problems. We want people to be held accountable. These people want to do it and they need things like name recognition and visibility. So please watch and share, especially this video, which is coming out three days, four days before the elections. ⁓ for primaries. So please watch and share this and make sure, especially if you know people in Illinois, help get the word out about some amazing people like Demi and Dylan. I interviewed Dylan earlier and he's amazing too. So ⁓ there are just a lot of amazing people running right now. So please help out when you can. For those of you that may not know this podcast, just so you know, Breaking the Met is about having hard conversations when necessary, fighting to break the status quo and the idea that all people. no matter your race, religion, gender, or identity, get rights, respect, dignity, and safety. Again, thank you for being here. I appreciate it so much, Demi, and for everyone else, we'll see you next time on Breaking the Meta. Bye, guys. Bye.