‘No Kings’ protests in Chicago, suburbs, nationwide fill streets, plazas to oppose Trump policies

People gathered Saturday in Chicago and around the country for coordinated “No Kings” protests opposing Trump administration policies they say are moving the country toward authoritarianism.

The rallies and marches were held in downtown Chicago, Evanston, Oak Park, Des Plaines, Highland Park, Geneva and other suburbs and in cities and small towns across the United States.

They were organized to coincide with a military parade in Washington, D.C., to mark the Army’s 250th anniversary and President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday.

“We’re in a situation that is a crisis that is deepening every day, with the weaponization of the military against people, with the kidnapping and disappearing of our neighbors, with the stealing of our resources to give to billionaires,” said Kathy Tholin, who chairs the board of the advocacy group Indivisible Chicago, one of the Loop protest’s organizers.

“And this is an opportunity for Chicago to say, ‘No, we don’t have kings in this country. We don’t want chaos and cruelty. And we don’t want this country to be in the service of billionaires.’ ”

The demonstrations came amid rising tensions in the past week over Trump policies that saw the president send 2,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines to Los Angeles. It was the first time in six decades that a U.S. president had called in the National Guard without a request from a governor.

Trump said he took that rare step to protect federal property in the face of protests in Los Angeles over his administration’s immigration raids, calling the demonstrators “paid insurrectionists.”

Trump’s actions have prompted Democratic Party leaders and protesters in Chicago and elsewhere to criticize him for overstepping his authority and to denounce him as an autocrat.

Around Chicago, protesters chanted and carried signs with slogans such as “No kings since 1776” and “Citizen not subject” and urging Americans to not allow the country to be ruled by a “fuhrer.”

“When I look out at this gathering, I don’t see Daley Plaza,” U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., told thousands at Daley Plaza. “I don’t even see this city. I see America. I see a country that decided in 1776: No kings in America.”

Chicago police said one person was arrested.

The protests came hours after the assassinations in Minnesota of Melissa Hortman, a Democratic state representative, and her husband and a separate shooting that left a Minnesota state senator and his wife wounded. Both attacks took place at the lawmakers’ homes in what Gov. Tim Walz called an “act of political violence.” A manhunt was underway in the Minneapolis suburbs for a 57-year-old suspect.

The shootings prompted organizers to cancel “No Kings” demonstrations planned in Minnesota.

In Chicago, the Daley Plaza rally began with a moment of silence for the Minnesota victims.

In Atlanta, the 5,000-capacity “No Kings” rally reached its limit with thousands more demonstrators gathered outside barriers to hear speakers.

In Philadelphia, a light rain fell as sign-carrying marchers gathered for the flagship rally in Love Park, shouting “Whose streets? Our streets!” as they marched to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where they listened to speakers on the steps made famous in the movie “Rocky.”

In Los Angeles, the scene of confrontations earlier in the week, thousands gathered in front of City Hall.

Hundreds gathered on the lawn in front of Mississippi’s state Capitol.

And marchers in downtown Little Rock, Ark., walked across a bridge over the Arkansas River.

When Trump threatened “very big force” if protesters tried to disrupt his parade in Washington, “No Kings” organizers decided to make Philadelphia their hub.

Altogether, about 2,000 “No Kings” protests were planned nationwide by groups including the 50501 Movement — a reference to 50 states, 50 protests, one movement.

Indivisible Chicago and the ACLU of Illinois organized the protests in the Chicago area.

In Chicago, after gathering at Daley Plaza, protesters marched on Michigan Avenue and Dearborn Street. They passed in front of Trump Tower, staying south of the Chicago River, as police blocked the bridges.

As crowds spilled into State Street, longtime friends Jesse Flores and Brent Showalter brought a symbol of Trump’s Washington parade to Chicago.

Showalter, an artist with a studio in Humboldt Park, made them out of cardboard, duct tape and spray paint, saying it was “emotional pollen” to brighten people’s day.

“We just want to make it seem as ridiculous as it is,” said Flores, 39.

“I’ll tell you it’s not easy to move on a tank,” Showalter said.

Flores, though, came with something in mind. His partner is a cancer patient on Medicaid who has had trouble navigating the system. As massive cuts are being debated in Congress, he expects worse.

“We were getting help, but then things started getting cut, so it’s hitting close to home,” Flores said.

The protests came days after thousands of people, responding to federal immigration raids, marched Tuesday in downtown Chicago, where confrontations with police led to 17 arrests. Hundreds more marched Thursday in a less-confrontational protest.

On Saturday in Oak Park, Bob Personeet, 65, carried an upside-down American flag.

”Historically, an upside-down flag is a sign of resistance and a country under distress,” he said. “During wars, it was a signal to say you are in trouble. This flag today is showing we are in trouble.”

Mike Duttge of Lincoln Square and his son Lucas, 19, rode the CTA Brown Line to the protest downtown.

“I have a son, and I’m terrified of what my country is going to look like if we continue down this current path,” Duttge said. “I’m hoping for a great future. And we have an outside force who is making it very difficult to have a democracy worth living in.”

Adela Benitez, a 25-year-old Chicago resident who just moved from Kansas, came to the march with an El Salvadoran flag draped over her shoulders. Her parents fled violence there and lost several family members.

Benitez’s 27-year-old sister became a citizen last year, but the process has proved more difficult for her parents, who she says don’t have formal education and struggle to study on their own while balancing jobs and life.

“They’re just scared every day, and they try to cooperate with ICE,” Benitez said. “There aren’t really many resources for them to get citizenship.”

Her parents have been in the United States trying to gain citizenship for about three decades, even missing their own parents’ funerals to ensure compliance. While she said they still fear returning to their home country, she said they’ve considered it out of fear of the Trump administration.

“My parents have been here for so long,” Benitez said. “Self-deportation is something they have talked about, but there’s no home for them to go back to. They built their lives here.”

Contributing: Uliana Pavlova, Sara Karp, Kate Grossman, AP