Second ‘50501’ protest held outside Illinois Capitol

[February 18, 2025]  By Jade Aubrey and UIS Public Affairs Reporting (PAR)

A second protest against the Trump administration took place in front of the Illinois Capitol Monday, less than two weeks after the first such protest was held.

The protest was part of the “50501 movement,” which calls for 50 protests in 50 states on one day. This is the same entity that put together a similar protest Feb. 5, which was one of dozens of protests that took place across the nation that day.

Build The Resistance, one of the main websites being used to organize these protests, called it the “2nd National 50501 Day of Action,” and started the protest’s slogan of “No Kings on President’s Day.”

The 50501 Reddit account posted the initial protest posters Feb. 10, which were pictures of President Donald Trump wearing a crown next to the words “President not King,” “President not God,” and “President not Führer.”

Organizers of the Illinois-based protest issued a statement for Monday’s protest, calling it “No Kings” Day. The statement included several national and Illinois-specific requests that revolved around issues including diversity, equity and inclusion programs, LGBTQ+ rights, citizenship rights, immigration, Elon Musk, and the Department of Government Efficiency.

Tristan Sites, a Lincoln resident who identified himself as one of the organizers of the Springfield rally, said the protest was not simply about Trump.

“We have no kings in this country,” Sites said. “This isn’t about Trump as a person anymore. This is about the fact that Trump and his people are currently trying to systematically destroy the government that makes us allowed to be free in this country.”

As protestors began to arrive around noon, organizers played music from speakers, including a song by Woody Guthrie, titled “All You Fascists Bound to Lose.” They also set up a table displaying copies of the national movement’s press release, a list of chants to be used, markers and cardboard to make signs. By 1 p.m., hundreds had gathered in front of the statehouse.

Protestors gather in front of the Illinois Statehouse Monday, Feb. 17, to protest President Donald Trump’s administration on President’s Day. (Capitol News Illinois photo by Jade Aubrey)

At 1:30 p.m. they embarked on a 6-block march through downtown Springfield. Afterwards, event organizers gave speeches and started chants in front of the Capitol.

“I know a lot of people are of the opinion that standing out here with a sign and yelling into the void really doesn’t do much,” Sites said. “I disagree. And the reason I disagree is because it gets people talking about it. The fact that so many people are now involved in this movement and so many people are aware of what’s happening is because one person on Reddit made a post and then it happened.”

The 50501 movement has labelled itself as a grassroots movement with no single organizer. Sites said he heard about the movement on Reddit and joined the Illinois-based chat on a Discord server, which he said seemed to “blow up overnight.”

“Myself and a few of the other organizers have a long history in event organization,” Sites said. “We run several small-scale convention events throughout the Midwest. We’re not affiliated, really, but we used that experience as transferable skills in order to make sure that we were able to put this event together in a way that would keep people safe.”

He said Gov. JB Pritzker is doing an “incredible job” handling and criticizing the actions of Trump and his administration and called Pritzker the Illinois-based movement’s “MVP.”

“We also know that our other representatives and our other politicians could be doing more to vocally support the people of this state,” he said “Gov. Pritzker, like I said, his office is doing an incredible job. We want to hear more from the other people in positions of power in the state of Illinois. We want to hear that you are on our side.”

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.