Thousands of Chicagoans are expected to gather at Grant Park downtown Saturday to protest the Trump administration’s policies, including the president’s aggressive deportation campaign that has sent federal agents and troops to the city.
They will join protesters packing parks and lining sidewalks in the city’s suburbs and in New York City, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, San Francisco and more than 2,000 locales across the country in a “nationwide day of defiance.”
The “Hands Off Chicago” rally downtown at noon is organized by dozens of local advocacy groups, including Indivisible Chicago and the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois.
Organizers said it is meant to push back against the “immoral and illegal acts” the Trump administration has taken.
“We have the opportunity to specifically speak out against the invasion of Chicago, in addition to ways the administration is attacking our workers, our democracy and our country,” Indivisible Chicago Chair Kathy Tholin told the Sun-Times.
“The eyes of our nation are on Chicago as we respond to these federal attacks,” Tholin said. She urged those who don’t feel targeted by federal immigration agents to show up in support of the city’s immigrant and other vulnerable communities.
Republican leaders, including House Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise, have slammed the protest as a “Hate America Rally.” Republican governors in Texas and Virginia have said they are ready to use the National Guard to respond to “acts of violence or damaging property” during the protest.
Chicago organizers said they are committed to “nonviolent action” and urged participants to de-escalate any potential confrontations.
Madeline Townsend, a board member of the National Lawyers Guild of Chicago, said the group does not expect an aggressive response from Chicago police or federal agencies to the Downtown rally.
Townsend said the group will have legal observers at that protest and smaller events across the region. She advised participants to learn about their rights and legal protections before this weekend, in case they come in contact with law enforcement officers.
The Chicago rally comes four months after the first “No Kings” protest, which drew about 15,000 to downtown and more to the suburbs, according to estimates. The June protest was meant to counter a military parade in Washington to mark the Army’s 250th anniversary and Trump’s 79th birthday.
Saturday’s events also follow smaller demonstrations at Broadview’s ICE facility, Downtown and other sites of ICE activities. Some of these protests were met with an aggressive response from federal agents, who have used tear gas and other crowd control tactics and arrested some protesters.